Adaptive Process Management in Cyber-Physical Domains

The increasing application of process-oriented approaches in new challenging cyber-physical domains beyond business computing (e.g., personalized healthcare, emergency management, factories of the future, home automation, etc.) has led to reconsider the level of flexibility and support required to manage complex processes in such domains. A cyber-physical domain is characterized by the presence of a cyber-physical system coordinating heterogeneous ICT components (PCs, smartphones, sensors, actuators) and involving real world entities (humans, machines, agents, robots, etc.) that perform complex tasks in the “physical” real world to achieve a common goal. The physical world, however, is not entirely predictable, and processes enacted in cyber-physical domains must be robust to unexpected conditions and adaptable to unanticipated exceptions. This demands a more flexible approach in process design and enactment, recognizing that in real-world environments it is not adequate to assume that all possible recovery activities can be predefined for dealing with the exceptions that can ensue. In this chapter, we tackle the above issue and we propose a general approach, a concrete framework and a process management system implementation, called SmartPM, for automatically adapting processes enacted in cyber-physical domains in case of unanticipated exceptions and exogenous events. The adaptation mechanism provided by SmartPM is based on declarative task specifications, execution monitoring for detecting failures and context changes at run-time, and automated planning techniques to self-repair the running process, without requiring to predefine any specific adaptation policy or exception handler at design-time

Getting Incentives Right: do we need ex post CBA?

This paper, presented at the Sixth European Conference on Evaluation of Cohesion Policy (Warsaw, 30 November-1 December 2009), discusses why there is a strong need of ex-post Cost-Benefit analysis and which conditions should be met for a proper ex-post exercise to be carried out in the framework of Cohesion Policy major projects. After an introduction about the objectives and instruments of the 2007-2013 EU Cohesion Policy, and in particular the legal framework for co-financing environmental and transport projects, the paper illustrates and discusses some methodological choices which have been made by the authors of the EC CBA Guide. It is showed that, without an ex-post Cost-Benefit analysis, the ex-ante exercise is also weakened as a decision making tool. In particular, in the light of evidence from literature about the most common mistakes and pitfalls in ex-ante project appraisal, it is explained how systematic ex-post evaluation is important in particular linked to ex-ante incentives to reveal true information about the projects characteristics (especially on investment costs and demand forecast which are often respectively under and overestimated due to an optimism bias) and ex-post performance assessment. The EC has a unique role to play in this context, and recommendations are given about how to improve the use of CBA for investment decisions and how to contract co-funding of major projects in the framework of incentive theory.CBA, Cohesion Policy, Incentives

From Iconic Design to Lost Luggage: Innovation at Heathrow Terminal 5

This paper aims to contribute to understanding of how organizations respond to risk and uncertainty by combining and balancing routines and innovation. It shows how approaches to risk and uncertainty are shaped by the contractual framework in large multi-party projects. The paper addresses a gap in the literature on how risk and uncertainty is managed to deliver innovation in large-scale ‘megaprojects’. These megaprojects are notorious for high rates of failure that conventionally evoke organizational strategies avoiding risks and uncertainties. Yet strategies for managing risk and uncertainty are essential to the routines and innovation that overcome the challenges of successfully delivering large-scale, complex projects.

Managament in a New and Experimentally Organized Economy

The parallel development of management theory and practice over three phases of economic development is surveyed; (1) the pre-oil crisis experience 1969-1975, (2) the post oil crisis sobering up through most of the 1990s and (3) the emergence of new global production organizations , blurring the notion of the firm to be managed. The external market circumstances of each period dictate different structures of business operations ; (a) a steady state and predictable environment, (b) crisis, inflation and disorderly markets and (c) new technology supporting a globally distributed production organization. As a consequence structural learning between the periods has been of limited value and often outright misleading. The influence of management theory on management practice and its origin in the received economic equilibrium model are discussed, and an alternative management theory based on the theory of the Experimentally Organized Economy (EOE) presented. The increased rate of failure among large firms is related to the increasing complexity of business decisions in globally distributed production and the decreased reliability of learning . It is concluded that successful management practice develops through experimentation in markets and that the best management education has been a varied career in many lines of business and in several companies.Competence bloc theory; Experimentally Organized Economy (EOE); Management theory; WAD theory; Firm Dynamics; Learning

Establishing a framework for the effective design of resilient supply chains with inherent non-linearities

Purpose of this paper: Previous control theory research on supply chain dynamics has predominantly taken a linear perspective of the real world, whereas nonlinearities have usually been studied via a simulation approach. Nonlinearities can naturally occur in supply chains through the existence of physical and economic constraints, for example, capacity limitations. Since the ability to flex capacity is an important aspect of supply chain resilience, there is a need to rigorously study such nonlinearities. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for the dynamic design of supply chains so that they are resilient to nonlinear system structures

Climate risk perceptions in the Ontario (Canada) electricity sector

This thesis examines management cognition of climate risks in the electricity sector in Ontario (Canada). Risk perception literature is combined with corporate adaptation and risk management literature to offer a broad conceptual framework of climate risk readiness among power producers and utilities. This research aims to move management cognition of climate change past prior contributions which considered climate risk as being solely physical in nature. In this work, eight exogenous and endogenous factors relating to climate risk are examined for their influence on how management may view a wider spectrum of climate change impacts. Using an inductive research approach, 20 in depth case studies explore how electricity executives/senior managers perceive those risks using construct elicitation (repertory grid technique). Findings are triangulated with a narrative analysis of their corporate reportage of climate risks, to gain deeper insight into the complex phenomena of climate risks for the sector. Findings show some similarities and some appreciable differences in both groups’ view of climate risks despite their legitimately contending positions in industry. Overall both power producers and utilities are predominantly concerned with risk analysis and assessment of climate related risks, and less with risk response, suggesting at present the sector remains in an analytical state. The potential benefits of this research approach will provide useful insights to multiple groups including managers and policy makers

The APT/ERE planning and scheduling manifesto

The Entropy Reduction Engine, ERE project, is focusing on the construction of integrated planning and scheduling systems. Specifically, the project is studying the problem of integrating planning and scheduling in the context of the closed loop plan use. The results of this research are particularly relevant when there is some element of dynamism in the environment, and thus some chance that a previously formed plan will fail. After a preliminary study of the APT management and control problem, it was felt that it presents an excellent opportunity to show some of the ERE Project's technical results. Of course, the alignment between technology and problem is not perfect, so planning and scheduling for APTs presents some new and difficult challenges as well

Best Practices for Evaluating Flight Deck Interfaces for Transport Category Aircraft with Particular Relevance to Issues of Attention, Awareness, and Understanding CAST SE-210 Output 2 Report 6 of 6

Attention, awareness, and understanding of the flight crew are a critical contributor to safety and the flight deck plays a critical role in supporting these cognitive functions. Changes to the flight deck need to be evaluated for whether the changed device provides adequate support for these functions. This report describes a set of diverse evaluation methods. The report recommends designing the interface-evaluation to span the phases of the device development, from early to late, and it provides methods appropriate at each phase. It describes the various ways in which an interface or interface component can fail to support awareness as potential issues to be assessed in evaluation. It summarizes appropriate methods to evaluate different issues concerning inadequate support for these functions, throughout the phases of development