Patent data as a tool to monitor S & T portfolio's.

This article deals with the use of patent data to monitor science and technology (S&T) portfolios. S&T portfolios have become central tools to examine and to monitor the vitality of both institutions and regions in the innovation game that underpins their economic growth and development. Those portfolios have to be monitored not only at the intra-organizational level, but also at the inter-organizational level and at the levels of specific systems of innovation. Therefore, the development of appropriate, easy-to-use and transparent, benchmark indicators to assess the strengths and weaknesses of organizational S&T portfolios is tantamount. In this paper, we report the construction of such a benchmark indicator and we assess its usefulness by applying it to the European Patent Database.Data; Science; Regions; Systems;

Influence of Portfolio Management in Decision-Making

Purpose: Today’s manufacturing facilities are challenged by highly customized products and just in time manufacturing and delivery of these products. In this study, a batch scheduling problem has been addressed to enable on-time completion of customer orders in a lean manufacturing environment. The problem is optimizing the partitioning of product components into batches and scheduling of the resulting batches where each customer order is received as a set of products made of various components. Design/methodology/approach: Three different mathematical models for minimization of total earliness and tardiness of customer orders are developed to provide on-time completion of customer orders and also, to avoid excess final product inventory. The first model is a non-linear integer programming model whereas the second is a linearized version of the first. Finally, to solve larger sized instances of the problem, an alternative linear integer model is presented. Findings: Computational study using a suit set of test instances showed that the alternative linear integer model is able to solve all test instances in varying sizes within quite shorter computer times compared to the other two models. It has also been showed that the alternative model is able to solve moderate sized real-world problems. Originality/value: The problem under study differentiates from existing batch scheduling problems in the literature owing to the inclusion of new circumstances that are present in real-world applications. Those are: customer orders consisting of multi-products made of multi-parts, processing of all parts of the same product from different orders in the same batch, and delivering the orders only when all related products are completed. This research also contributes to the literature of batch scheduling problem by presenting new optimization models.Peer Reviewe

Sustainable mobility in Europe: Problems in defining and implementing an operational measure

Transport policy in Europe, both at the European Union level and the national level, has been dominated by the concept of sustainable mobility. This concept is rarely adequately defined, and even more rarely is an operational measure of the concept identified. We know that sustainable mobility is an attempt to relate both the environmental damage and other negative externalities associated with transport, on the one hand, and the positive benefits linked to the role played by an efficient transport system in sustaining and enhancing a given level of activity and its growth in the economy as a whole, on the other hand, to the mobility of both individuals and goods. Sustainability in any system implies that the system is capable of maintaining itself in the long term so that current levels of activity do not damage future prospects. These concepts are well known and broadly accepted, what has proved more difficult is the definition of operational measures in the context of a fully worked through model linking transport, the economy and the environment. This paper attempts to provide such a framework. It argues that sustainability can only be understood in a model which is explicitly spatial, since the distribution of economic activity and of the externalities associated with transport are a key element in the definition of sustainability. The paper provides a framework which synthesises recent work in the new economic geography, in the economics of transport infrastructure and the environmental effects of transport as the basis for a definition of a set of indicators which can be used as tests of the sustainability of transport policy measures.

Leveraging Open-standard Interorganizational Information Systems for Process Adaptability and Alignment: An Empirical Analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the value creation mechanisms of open-standard inter-organizational information system (OSIOS), which is a key technology to achieve Industry 4.0. Specifically, this study investigates how the internal assimilation and external diffusion of OSIOS help manufactures facilitate process adaptability and alignment in supply chain network.Design/methodology/approachA survey instrument was designed and administrated to collect data for this research. Using three-stage least squares estimation, the authors empirically tested a number of hypothesized relationships based on a sample of 308 manufacturing firms in China.FindingsThe results of the study show that OSIOS can perform as value creation mechanisms to enable process adaptability and alignment. In addition, the impact of OSIOS internal assimilation is inversely U-shaped where the positive effect on process adaptability will become negative after an extremum point is reached.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature by providing insights on how OSIOS can improve supply chain integration and thus promote the achievement of industry 4.0. By revealing a U-shaped relationship between OSIOS assimilation and process adaptability, this study fills previous research gap by advancing the understanding on the value creation mechanisms of information systems deployment

Exploring drivers of change and cluster dynamics:case study of Energy Valley

Business landscapes are changing at global, regional and sectoral levels as well as the social and ecological contexts. In order to understand what these changes are and how clusters are dealing with these, the research explores drivers of change and cluster dynamics using a Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) approach. The research uses Energy Valley as its main case study to gain insights into these changes. The research has developed a conceptual framework for cluster development. One of the main reasons for this research is the signicance of clusters in the European Union’s competitiveness strategy, Innovation Union (EC, 2010)

¿Un cambio sustancial en la doctrina constitucional sobre la cuestión prejudicial? A propósito de las SSTC 27/2013, y 212/2014.

1.- Motivación. 2.- El mecanismo de la cuestión prejudicial en el Derecho de la UE. 3.- La doctrina constitucional sobre la cuestión prejudicial en España 3.1.- Posición previa del TC. 3.2.- Las SSTC 27/2013, y 212/2014. 4.- ConclusionesEste trabajo tiene por objeto el estudio de la jurisprudencia del Tribunal Constitucional español sobre el planteamiento de la cuestión prejudicial, y en particular las últimas sentencias 27/2013, y 212/2014, y si las mismas pueden o no constituir un cambio sustancial de su doctrina tradicional al respecto

The application of the lean innovation aproach in the stage-gate model

Innovation has become over the last decades an essential factor for survival of the organizations. Its scope and its its importance includes not only technological aspects but also the administrative area, with the clear objective of increasing competitiveness, thereby making the mission to innovate not only the responsibility of a single area, but the responsibility of all employees in all areas. Accelerated competition has pushed companies to use innovation management tools in research and new product development. Although several models exist in the literature of innovation management, with regard to new product development, there is room for improvement in the management of innovation, from idea generation until product launch. This paper seeks to identify an alternative for improving innovation management, buiding on the stage-gate model, and using the concept of lean innovation, which is a new approach toward the management of the innovation process, based on the concepts of the Toyota Production System. With the use of the lean innovation aproach during some stages of the stage-gate model, it is possible to achieve results in time and cost reduction in new product development.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, PEst- OE/EME/UI0252/201