'Smart' design: greening the Total Product System

About the book: Since the Rio summit in 1992, the paradigm of corporate environmental responsibility has gradually and consistently extended beyond complying with increasingly stringent environmental regulation and taking up the proactive initiatives of a few world-class companies. Research indicates that the business and financial performance of companies may depend directly on socially and environmentally responsible business practices. Many world-class companies now realize that customers and other stakeholders do not distinguish between a company and its suppliers. As a result, greening the supply chain is an innovative idea which is fast gaining attention in the industry. Greening the Supply Chain is a compilation of important chapters written by a diverse set of international authors which incorporates a broad variety of perspectives. Note: Smart car refers to Smart City coupe and Fortwo, and all terms are registered trademarks of MCC (micro compact car)

A Total Product System Concept - a case study of the smart (tm) automobile

Increasing demand from consumers plus EU legislation has raised awareness within the automotive production sector of the urgent need to reduce the environmental impacts from the three main stages in vehicle life – car manufacture, car use and end-of life vehicle processing. The paper reviews how the originator and manufacturer of the smart automobile has worked directly with its main system partners to address environmental issues in these three stages while optimizing performance across the parameters of commercial viability. This required the creation of strategic relationships within the supply chain. Overall, this innovative approach is viewed in the context of a total product system. The smart car highlights the following critical areas: use of modularity in product design and production facility layout; emphasis on partner participation from product creation to after-sales; and the use of highly customised build-to-order product system to 'green' the entire supply chain. In particular, the case study compares the process characteristics empoyed at the smart car factory, called 'smartville', with more traditional approaches to vehicle manufacture. It exmaines these issues in a preliminary attempt to establish the actual or potential reduction of environmental impact in the three stages of vehicle life, including the role of main suppliers in this process

The role of public policy in stimulating radical environmental impact reduction in the automotive sector: The need to focus on product-service system innovation

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 InderscienceProduct-service system (PSS) innovation is a promising approach to address sustainability challenges in the automotive industry. Starting form this assumption, this paper presents and discusses the potential contribution that policy measures can have in fostering the automotive sector in innovating on a PSS level. A set of policy instruments (general instruments and specific PSS-targeted ones) are presented and classified, underlining the effects they could produce at the company and environmental levels. In order to effectively support sustainable PSS diffusion in the automotive industry, the paper suggests the integration of general policy measures (such as internalisation of external costs, extended producer responsibility programmes and informative policies), with the PSS-targeted ones (such as Green Public Procurement focused on sustainable PSS, support of companies in acquiring information related to PSS, support of demonstrative pilot projects). In addition, the paper suggests the necessity to involve actively universities and research centres

Trade induced growth impacts of corporate entry in the food sector: A case study of fruits and vegetables sub sector in the Punjab State of India

Study indicated that the entry of corporate sector in the Punjab State is both in retail and wholesale trade of the fruits & vegetables sub sector. At the organized retail stores these companies have provided its consumers a single window service for the various product assortments while within the fruits & vegetables category (have minuscule scales) widened the product selection choices. Corporate entry in wholesale trade has linked several product specific production belts with medium to high income consumers through various market segments such as organized stores, traditional wholesale/retail markets and the food service. These companies have also provided product variety through imports while opportunities for crop diversification towards higher value crops through exports. In the fruits & vegetables sub sector companies engaged in the retail trade have adopted for short to medium while those in wholesale trade for medium to long-term more sustainable approaches for the sourcing of supplies to build up competitive advantages. This has started generating growth in the Punjab state that has manifested in terms of higher incomes for as the partner farmers and creation of employment for the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled manpower throughout the supply chain. As the market sizes of these companies expand and diversify in the domestic/global markets it shall enhance growth thereby magnify its impacts. --Fruits & vegetables trade,corporate groups,growth

Why IT Matters: An Empirical Study of E-Business Usage, Innovation, and Firm Performance

The article argues that IT continues to have strategic relevance for companies because it en-ables innovation. A conceptual link between the adoption of IT and innovation is established. This conceptual link allows a market-based, economic explanation for variations in IT payoffs among firms: The successful adoption of new IT leads to innovation. Depending on the be-havior of customers and competitors, a successful innovation can enable companies to gain competitive advantages. The economic theory of innovation suggests conditions that are nec-essary for firms to benefit from innovative activities. The relevance of IT as an important enabler of innovation is demonstrated using a very large sample of enterprises from different industries and countries in the European Union surveyed in late 2003. It is shown that a substantial share of firms use IT to introduce new processes into their business, or to offer new products or services to their customers. To study the rela-tionship between firm performance and innovation, I estimate an error component model that controls for unobserved market-specific effects and various firm-specific characteristics. The regression results indicate that innovative firms are generally more likely to exhibit increasing turnover and employment. In addition, firms that conduct product or service innovations are also more likely to be profitable. Furthermore, enterprises using IT to innovate perform at least as well as those innovating without IT. Yet, no significant relationship between process innovation and profitability is found, suggesting that firms might have problems to appropri-ate excess profits from process innovations, independent from whether they are enabled by IT or not. Possible reasons for this include time-lags between process innovations and profit gains, problems to effectively protect process innovations from imitation by competitors, or a lack of complementary resources. The results suggest that the returns to IT critically depend on whether and how IT investments are transferred into innovative activities. In addition, they suggest that IT will maintain its strategic importance as long as the IT industry remains inno-vative in developing new IT hardware and useful new business applications for it.Firm performance; Innovation; Information technology; Fixed effects logit

Nationwide financial services: Gaining and sustaining long-term advantage through information technology

How have U.S. and Japanese firms organized and managed the process of becoming recognized leaders in using information technology (IT) to achieve longterm sustainable advantage? The cases support an initial research hypothesis: leading U.S. and Japanese software users are very sophisticated in the ways they have integrated software into their business strategies. They use IT to institutionalize organizational strengths and to continually capture the knowledge generated by their business operations. As an introduction to the specifics of the case presented in this paper for Nationwide Financial Services, an outline of the focus of the project and the general methodology used is presented here

Issues Related to the Emergence of the Information Superhighway and California Societal Changes, IISTPS Report 96-4

The Norman Y. Mineta International Institute for Surface Transportation Policy Studies (IISTPS) at San José State University (SJSU) conducted this project to review the continuing development of the Internet and the Information Superhighway. Emphasis was placed on an examination of the impact on commuting and working patterns in California, and an analysis of how public transportation agencies, including Caltrans, might take advantage of the new communications technologies. The document reviews the technology underlying the current Internet “structure” and examines anticipated developments. It is important to note that much of the research for this limited-scope project was conducted during 1995, and the topic is so rapidly evolving that some information is almost automatically “dated.” The report also examines how transportation agencies are basically similar in structure and function to other business entities, and how they can continue to utilize the emerging technologies to improve internal and external communications. As part of a detailed discussion of specific transportation agency functions, it is noted that the concept of a “Roundtable Forum,” growing out of developments in Concurrent Engineering, can provide an opportunity for representatives from multiple jurisdictions to utilize the Internet for more coordinated decision-making. The report also included an extensive analysis of demographic trends in California in recent years, such as commute and recreational activities, and identifies how the emerging technologies may impact future changes

The future of manufacturing: A Delphi-based scenario analysis on Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is expected to impart profound changes to the configuration of manufacturing companies with regards to what their value proposition will be and how their production network, supplier base and customer interfaces will develop. The literature on the topic is still fragmented; the features of the emerging paradigm appear to be a contested territory among different academic disciplines. This study assumes a value chain perspective to analyze the evolutionary trajectories of manufacturing companies. We developed a Delphi-based scenario analysis involving 76 experts from academia and practice. The results highlight the most common expectations as well as controversial issues in terms of emerging business models, size, barriers to entry, vertical integration, rent distribution, and geographical location of activities. Eight scenarios provide a concise outlook on the range of possible futures. These scenarios are based on four main drivers which stem from the experts\u2019 comments: demand characteristics, transparency of data among value chain participants, maturity of additive manufacturing and advanced robotics, and penetration of smart products. Researchers can derive from our study a series of hypotheses and opportunities for future research on Industry 4.0. Managers and policymakers can leverage the scenarios in long-term strategic planning

Developing Asia's Competitive Advantage in Green Products: Learning from the Japanese Experience

Right now, governments around the world are spending record amounts of money to kick-start their economies in response to the financial crisis. Fortunately, a great opportunity exists for this fiscal stimulus to be directed towards "green" economic growth, which can not only provide the new markets and jobs needed immediately for alleviating poverty, but also address the challenges of global warming. Working models already exist, proving that sustainable growth is possible. To achieve this will require social, technical and structural changes, as well as appropriate policies conducive to eco-innovation. For developing countries, there are lessons that can be learned from countries that have already gone through that process. The aim of this paper is to show what lessons can be learnt from the Japanese case. As the world's second largest economy, Japan is not only one of the most energy-efficient economies in the world; it also produces some of the world's leading green technologies. This paper focuses on current trends in the green product market and consumer behavior in Japan, which have been influenced by recent government policies, particularly the ¥15.4 trillion (more than US$100 billion) stimulus package. The aim of this paper is to provide some insight on, and present a repository of selected government policies promoting sustainable development. The scope of this paper will cover areas such as hybrid vehicles, renewable energy, energy efficient home appliances, and green certification schemes. It also provides a brief discussion on the environmental policies of the new Japanese government that came into power on 16 September 2009. The paper attempts to use the most recent data, from June to August 2009, however given the quickly-evolving global environment, these statistics may change drastically by the time this paper is presented.japanese government environmental policies; sustainable development; vehicle pollution policies

It's about time: Investing in transportation to keep Texas economically competitive - Appendices

APPENDIX A : PAVEMENT QUALITY (Zhanmin Zhang, Michael R. Murphy, Robert Harrison), 7 pages -- APPENDIX B : BRIDGE QUALITY (Jose Weissmann, Angela J. Weissmann), 6 pages -- APPENDIX C : URBAN TRAFFIC CONGESTION (Tim Lomax, David Schrank), 32 pages -- APPENDIX D: RURAL CORRIDORS (Tim Lomax, David Schrank), 6 pages -- APPENDIX E: ADDITIONAL REVENUE SOURCE OPTIONS FOR PAVEMENT AND BRIDGE MAINTENANCE (Mike Murphy, Seokho Chi, Randy Machemehl, Khali Persad, Robert Harrison, Zhanmin Zhang), 81 pages -- APPENDIX F: FUNDING TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS (David Ellis, Brianne Glover, Nick Norboge, Wally Crittenden), 19 pages -- APPENDIX G: ESTIMATING VEHICLE OPERATING COSTS AND PAVEMENT DETERIORATION (by Robert Harrison), 4 page