Artificial intelligence in business-to-business marketing: a bibliometric analysis of current research status, development and future directions

Purpose-Although the value of AI has been acknowledged by companies, the literature shows challenges concerning AI-enabled B2B marketing innovation, as well as the diversity of roles AI can play in this regard. Accordingly, this study investigates the approaches that AI can be used for enabling B2B marketing innovation. Design/methodology/approach-Applying a bibliometric research method, this study systematically investigates the literature regarding AI-enabled B2B marketing. It synthesises state-of-the-art knowledge from 221 journal articles published between 1990 and 2021. Findings-Apart from offering specific information regarding the most influential authors and most frequently cited articles, the study further categorises the use of AI for innovation in B2B marketing into five domains, identified the main trends in the literature, and suggest directions for future research. Practical implications-Through our identified five domains, practitioners can assess their current use of AI ability in terms of their conceptualisation capability, technological applications, and identify their future needs in the relevant domains in order to make appropriate decisions on whether to invest in AI. Thus, the research outcomes can help companies to realise their digital marketing innovation strategy through AI. Originality/value-While more and more studies acknowledge the potential value of AI in B2B marketing, few attempts have been made to synthesise the literature. The results from the study can contribute by 1) obtaining and comparing the most influential works based on a series of analyses; 2) identifying five domains of research into how AI can be used for facilitating B2B marketing innovation; and 3) classifying relevant articles into five different time periods in order to identify both past trends and future directions in this specific field

Managing disruptions in a refinery supply chain using agent-based technique

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

An investigation of constraint-based risk management for collaborative design

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.In the context of internationally challenging economic, design has been regarded as a key factor in assisting design and manufacturing companies to survive. By using up-to-date computer-supported technology, the global design collaboration based on multidisciplinary and distributed environment is becoming a mainstream to new product development (NPD). However, during the process of collaborative design, risk is rarely mentioned. In particular, due to the complexity of design process and lack of efficient design decision-making, there have been some design collaboration failures across multiple companies. Some design projects cannot deliver the benefits as companies have expected through the collaboration. Moreover, a number of stakeholders, managers and designers expressed their disappointment at not seeing the projected savings in cost and time, which critically discredited the value of design collaboration. Many studies in academia and commercial cases have suggested that risk assessment can be applied as an effective means in the realm of design. Nevertheless, few of them conducted risk management research associated with design constraints under a collaborative environment from both theoretical and practical perspectives. In current risk practice, many risk practitioners simply report key risks to their management teams and no further analysis, which might subsequently result in confusion with excessive discussions. Consequently, to prevent the failure of design collaboration and perform a satisfactory risk assessment, it is important to perform risk management with an upstream perspective and at an operational level. An approach, called constraint-based design risk management (DRM) where a conceptual framework has been proposed on the basis of collaborative design features, risk management process and Theory of Constraints (TOC). Moreover, a DRM matrix has been developed to map, measure and mitigate collaborative design risk through evaluating the critical design constraints, and then specified design risk variables in the light of risk criteria. Design constraints are quantitative parameters that frequently affect main design processes and decisions. The combination of design constraints and risk criteria can be accessible and applicable by designers and design mangers. In addition, a Bayesian weighting method based on Bayesian theorem has been developed to measure collaborative design risk in a more efficient manner. Ultimately, a DRM tool has been created as a simulated scenario prototype, which incorporated with three case-study evaluations, to demonstrate the importance and effectiveness of using TOC and risk theory in the realm of design collaboration

Research on key techniques of flexible workflow based approach to supporting dynamic engineering design process

Error on title page - correct year of award is 2015 not 2013.Engineering design process (EDP) is a highly dynamic and creative process, and the capability in managing an EDP is considered as a major differentiating factor between competing enterprises. The most important prerequisite to establish an engineering design process excellence is a proper management of all the design process activities and the associated information. The most important impact in recent years on the EDP and on the activities of designers has come from computer-based data processing. Workflow, the automation of a business processes in whole or part, is a useful tool for modelling and managing a business process which can be reprensented by a workflow model (computerized process definition). By considering the dynamic characteristics of EDP, an EDP management system must be flexible enough to support the creative and dynamic EDP. After the introduction of engineering design process and its new trend, as well as flexible workflow technology, reviews of both engineering design process and its supporting flexible workflow technology shows that there is a need for a holistic framework to automate and coordinate design activities in the creative and dynamic EDP, and the flexible workflow technology should also be improved comprehensively in flexibility and intelligence in order to support better engineering design management. By introducing the relations between the EDP and flexible workflow, a virtual workflow and an autonomic flexible workflow built upon autonomic computing is investigated, and an innovative engineering design process management framework based on multi-autonomic objects flexible workflow is proposed. For the flexible workflow modelling in the framework, a dynamic instance-based flexible workflow modelling method is proposed for multi-autonomic objects flexible workflow. In order to improve the intelligence of flexible workflow, after examining the principle of flexible workflow intelligence in flexible workflow, a new flexible workflow autonomic object intelligence algorithm based on both extended Mamdani fuzzy reasoning and neural network is proposed, weighted fuzzy reasoning algorithm, as well as precise and fuzzy hybrid knowledge reasoning algorithm is designed; a bionic flexible workflow adaptation algorithm is proposed to improve the intelligence of autonomic object flexible workflow further. According to the characteristic of EDP, such as cross-enterprises and geographical distribution, and in order to realize the flexible execution of distributed flexible workflow engine, a distributed flexible workflow engine architecture based on web service is proposed and a flexible workflow model description method based on extended WSDL (Web Service Description Language) and BPEL4WS (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services) is proposed. A flexible workflow prototype system supporting engineering design process is implemented according to the proposed EDP management framework in Microsoft VS.Net 2005 environment. The framework is demonstrated by the application in an EDP of a MTO company, and it shows that the proposed framework can support the creative and dynamic process in an efficient way. Finally, the strengths and weakness of the framework as well as the prototype system is discussed based on the results of the evaluation, and the proposed areas of future work are given.Engineering design process (EDP) is a highly dynamic and creative process, and the capability in managing an EDP is considered as a major differentiating factor between competing enterprises. The most important prerequisite to establish an engineering design process excellence is a proper management of all the design process activities and the associated information. The most important impact in recent years on the EDP and on the activities of designers has come from computer-based data processing. Workflow, the automation of a business processes in whole or part, is a useful tool for modelling and managing a business process which can be reprensented by a workflow model (computerized process definition). By considering the dynamic characteristics of EDP, an EDP management system must be flexible enough to support the creative and dynamic EDP. After the introduction of engineering design process and its new trend, as well as flexible workflow technology, reviews of both engineering design process and its supporting flexible workflow technology shows that there is a need for a holistic framework to automate and coordinate design activities in the creative and dynamic EDP, and the flexible workflow technology should also be improved comprehensively in flexibility and intelligence in order to support better engineering design management. By introducing the relations between the EDP and flexible workflow, a virtual workflow and an autonomic flexible workflow built upon autonomic computing is investigated, and an innovative engineering design process management framework based on multi-autonomic objects flexible workflow is proposed. For the flexible workflow modelling in the framework, a dynamic instance-based flexible workflow modelling method is proposed for multi-autonomic objects flexible workflow. In order to improve the intelligence of flexible workflow, after examining the principle of flexible workflow intelligence in flexible workflow, a new flexible workflow autonomic object intelligence algorithm based on both extended Mamdani fuzzy reasoning and neural network is proposed, weighted fuzzy reasoning algorithm, as well as precise and fuzzy hybrid knowledge reasoning algorithm is designed; a bionic flexible workflow adaptation algorithm is proposed to improve the intelligence of autonomic object flexible workflow further. According to the characteristic of EDP, such as cross-enterprises and geographical distribution, and in order to realize the flexible execution of distributed flexible workflow engine, a distributed flexible workflow engine architecture based on web service is proposed and a flexible workflow model description method based on extended WSDL (Web Service Description Language) and BPEL4WS (Business Process Execution Language for Web Services) is proposed. A flexible workflow prototype system supporting engineering design process is implemented according to the proposed EDP management framework in Microsoft VS.Net 2005 environment. The framework is demonstrated by the application in an EDP of a MTO company, and it shows that the proposed framework can support the creative and dynamic process in an efficient way. Finally, the strengths and weakness of the framework as well as the prototype system is discussed based on the results of the evaluation, and the proposed areas of future work are given

An Agent-based Approach for Improving the Performance of Distributed Business Processes in Maritime Port Community

In the recent years, the concept of “port community” has been adopted by the maritime transport industry in order to achieve a higher degree of coordination and cooperation amongst organizations involved in the transfer of goods through the port area. The business processes of the port community supply chain form a complicated process which involves several process steps, multiple actors, and numerous information exchanges. One of the widely used applications of ICT in ports is the Port Community System (PCS) which is implemented in ports in order to reduce paperwork and to facilitate the information flow related to port operations and cargo clearance. However, existing PCSs are limited in functionalities that facilitate the management and coordination of material, financial, and information flows within the port community supply chain. This research programme addresses the use of agent technology to introduce business process management functionalities, which are vital for port communities, aiming to the enhancement of the performance of the port community supply chain. The investigation begins with an examination of the current state in view of the business perspective and the technical perspective. The business perspective focuses on understanding the nature of the port community, its main characteristics, and its problems. Accordingly, a number of requirements are identified as essential amendments to information systems in seaports. On the other hand, the technical perspective focuses on technologies that are convenient for solving problems in business process management within port communities. The research focuses on three technologies; the workflow technology, agent technology, and service orientation. An analysis of information systems across port communities enables an examination of the current PCSs with regard to their coordination and workflow management capabilities. The most important finding of this analysis is that the performance of the business processes, and in particular the performance of the port community supply chain, is not in the scope of the examined PCSs. Accordingly, the Agent-Based Middleware for Port Community Management (ABMPCM) is proposed as an approach for providing essential functionalities that would facilitate collaborative planning and business process management. As a core component of the ABMPCM, the Collaborative Planning Facility (CPF) is described in further details. A CPF prototype has been developed as an agent-based system for the domain of inland transport of containers to demonstrate its practical effectiveness. To evaluate the practical application of the CPF, a simulation environment is introduced in order to facilitate the evaluation process. The research started with the definition of a multi-agent simulation framework for port community supply chain. Then, a prototype has been implemented and employed for the evaluation of the CPF. The results of the simulation experiments demonstrate that our agent-based approach effectively enhances the performance of business process in the port community

Multi-agent collaboration for B2B workflow monitoring

Business-to-business (B2B) applications environments are exceedingly dynamic and competitive. This dynamism is manifested in the form of changing process requirements and time constraints. However, current workflow management technologies have difficulties to solve the challenges problems, such as: how to deal with the dynamic nature of B2B commerce processes, how to manage the distributed knowledge and recourses, and how to reduce the transaction risk. In this paper, a collaborative multi-agent system has been proposed. Multiple intelligent agents in our system can work together not only to identify the workflow problems, but also to solve such problems, by applying business rules, such as re-organizing the procurement and the transaction processes, and making necessary workflow process changes