22,921 research outputs found
How Digitalised Innovation Environments Impact Companies\u27 Innovation Capability - a Review and research Agenda
The aim of this paper is to structure the diverse investigations into various Digitalized Innovation Environments (DIE) such as FabLabs, Makerspaces, and Innovation Laboratories and to identify the resulting potential for companies. In private and academic contexts, DIEs are already established as environments for fostering innovation and knowledge transfer. Taking into account a wide range of disciplines and perspectives, a total of four functions were identified that DIEs can potentially assume in companies. Based on this, both direct and indirect impacts could be derived and resulting research gaps were identified. These blind spots are supplemented by research questions on the structural integration of DIEs in companies. Thus, the paper provides an overview of the current state of research and reveals relevant research gaps, which contribute to a future structured investigation of the research subject DIE
The countryside in urbanized Flanders: towards a flexible definition for a dynamic policy
The countryside, the rural area, the open space, ⊠many definitions are used for rural Flanders. Everyone makes its own interpretation of the countryside, considering it as a place for living, working or recreating. The countryside is more than just a geographical area: it is an aggregate of physical, social, economic and cultural functions, strongly interrelated with each other. According to international and European definitions of rural areas there would be almost no rural area in Flanders. These international definitions are all developed to be used for analysis and policy within their specific context. They are not really applicable to Flanders because of the historical specificity of its spatial structure. Flanders is characterized by a giant urbanization pressure on its countryside while internationally rural depopulation is a point of interest. To date, for every single rural policy initiative â like the implementation of the European Rural Development Policy â Flanders used a specifically adapted definition, based on existing data or previously made delineations. To overcome this oversupply of definitions and delineations, the Flemish government funded a research project to obtain a clear and flexible definition of the Flemish countryside and a dynamic method to support Flemish rural policy aims. First, an analysis of the currently used definitions of the countryside in Flanders was made. It is clear that, depending on the perspective or the policy context, another definition of the countryside comes into view. The comparative study showed that, according to the used criteria, the area percentage of Flanders that is rural, varies between 9 and 93 per cent. Second, dynamic sets of criteria were developed, facilitating a flexible definition of the countryside, according to the policy aims concerned. This research part was focused on 6 policy themes, like âconstruction, maintenance and management of local (transport) infrastructuresâ and âprovision of (minimum) services (education, culture, health care, âŠ)â. For each theme a dynamic set of criteria or indicators was constructed. These indicators make it possible to show where a policy theme manifests itself and/or where policy interventions are possible or needed. In this way every set of criteria makes up a new definition of rural Flanders. This method is dynamic; new data or insights can easily be incorporated and new criteria sets can be developed if other policy aims come into view. The developed method can contribute to a more region-oriented and theme-specific rural policy and funding mechanism
The potential of additive manufacturing in the smart factory industrial 4.0: A review
Additive manufacturing (AM) or three-dimensional (3D) printing has introduced a novel production method in design, manufacturing, and distribution to end-users. This technology has provided great freedom in design for creating complex components, highly customizable products, and efficient waste minimization. The last industrial revolution, namely industry 4.0, employs the integration of smart manufacturing systems and developed information technologies. Accordingly, AM plays a principal role in industry 4.0 thanks to numerous benefits, such as time and material saving, rapid prototyping, high efficiency, and decentralized production methods. This review paper is to organize a comprehensive study on AM technology and present the latest achievements and industrial applications. Besides that, this paper investigates the sustainability dimensions of the AM process and the added values in economic, social, and environment sections. Finally, the paper concludes by pointing out the future trend of AM in technology, applications, and materials aspects that have the potential to come up with new ideas for the future of AM explorations
Sustainable consumption: towards action and impact. : International scientific conference November 6th-8th 2011, Hamburg - European Green Capital 2011, Germany: abstract volume
This volume contains the abstracts of all oral and poster presentations of the international scientific conference âSustainable Consumption â Towards Action and Impactâ held in Hamburg (Germany) on November 6th-8th 2011. This unique conference aims to promote a comprehensive academic discourse on issues concerning sustainable consumption and brings together scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines.
In modern societies, private consumption is a multifaceted and ambivalent phenomenon: it is a ubiquitous social practice and an economic driving force, yet at the same time, its consequences are in conflict with important social and environmental sustainability goals. Finding paths towards âsustainable consumptionâ has therefore become a major political issue. In order to properly understand the challenge of âsustainable consumptionâ, identify unsustainable patterns of consumption and bring forward the necessary innovations, a collaborative effort of researchers from different disciplines is needed
Digitalization of the Banking Industry: A Multiple Stakeholder Analysis on Strategic Alignment
Today, enterprises from many industries experience that moving towards a digital business is a major challenge. The banking industry is heavily affected by the digital transformation as customersâ expectations drive the need for adapting strategies, processes and IT. So far, studies on the digitalization in the banking industry have either focused on the strategic level, the customer perspective or the internal perspective. In our study, we integrate the findings of previous studies for each perspective by employing a multiple-stakeholder analysis. The results show that the internal processes and IT systems are not yet ready for meeting the demands of the strategic and customer perspective. The banksâ digital strategy is often well-aligned with the customer needs but both are weakly aligned with the internal organization and IT. Especially the low integration of IT and the low degree of process automation are identified as inhibiting factors for the digital agenda
Digital transformation and organizational implications
Digital technologies surround us. Some technologies, such as platforms, help us book our holidays, others, like apps, transform our appearance, and more sophisticated technology, such as artificial intelligence, even translates texts for us. With that in mind, it seems almost unbelievable that there are yet areas in our lives that are not digital but require pen and paper. This dissertation aims to gain a better understanding of the ongoing digital transformation of organizations, with a specific focus on the following aspects: (1) understand what digital transformation is and how it affects firms, (2) shed light on the business value implications and contingencies in the SME context, and (3) to unravel different actions on how firms may deal with institutional pressure. Chapter 2 addresses the conceptual nature of digital transformation through a literature review and provides a process model for different stages of digital change and insights on transforming from the analog world into a digitally transformed organization. Chapter 3 deals with the business value implications of digital transformation for small to medium firms (SMEs) by focusing on the pressure between doing radically different activities and overcoming established routines is provided. Chapter 4 takes a broader perspective on the institutional arrangement and how digital transformation may promote legitimacy challenges. Finally, Chapter 5 ties everything together, presents a general discussion of the different studies and their outcomes, explores managerial and societal implications, and offers future research directions
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
3D printing and the future retail supply chain
Nowadays, the development of innovative technologies to satisfy individual consumer needs is
vital for successful companies. Since several years additive manufacturing attains high media
attention as a new paradigm of value creation for various industries. This paper studies 3D
printing and the possible applications in the retail industry shaping new supply chain strategies.
The concept of 3D printing and the state-of--the-art retail supply chain will be examined and
potential benefits of the implementation of 3D printing displayed. Furthermore, a scenario is
developed and a new supply chain concept will be derived to shape the retail supply chain of
the future
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