Design and radical innovation: a strategic perspective based upon a comparative case study between emergent and traditional industries in Portugal

The survival challenge faced by the Portuguese companies nowadays has promoted Innovation as the main management strategy to be applied. This research reveals the importance and the role of Design as the basic and integrative tool for the success of this strategy, focused on Radical or Breakthrough Innovation. The main contribution of this paper is the proposal of a conceptual model developed from a comparative case study research, made among Portuguese companies from the emergent sectors connected to new technologies and Portuguese companies from the traditional sectors. That work allowed the definition of the Success Critical Factors to consider for the development of radical new products: integrating new technologies (Science Knowledge), market sensibility (Marketing Knowledge), forecasting new needs or user interfaces and disruptive creativity (Design Knowledge)

Technological practices in the European auto industry: Exploring cases from Belgium, Germany and Portugal

The relation between work organisation and technological practices in auto industry is analysed in this article. The concept of “technological practice” in this sector is used to describe the specific ways of embedding information and communication technology applications into the organizational forms and cultural patterns. This concept was developed with the Sowing project (TSER, DG XII) and that approach included either the shop floor co-operation up to the regionally based networks of companies and supporting institutions. The authors studied different sectors in the automotive firms of different European countries (Germany, Belgium and Portugal): shopfloor and production lines, design and management and the local inter-relationships. It was underlined some evidencies of the different alternatives in terms of technological practices for the same sector. Much of the litterature try to disseminate an idea of a single (and optimum) organisational model for the same type of product. And here, even with the same type of technology, and of product (medium-high range), one can find different models, different cultures, different ways of organising the industrial structure (firms, regional institutions, R&D centres) in the same sector (auto industry).Automobile sector; technological practice; Information and Communication Technologies; work organisation; industrial structure; production models

An internal model for workers compensation

Mestrado em Ciências ActuariaisO ramo Acidentes de Trabalho é um dos ramos não Vida mais interessantes de estudar em Portugal devido essencialmente à gestão das pensões que ao contrário do que é comum na maioria dos países transita para a responsabilidade da área Vida. O programa Solvência II introduz novas exigências às empresas seguradoras a fim de conferir maior proteção aos consumidores. As empresas seguradoras podem optar por desenvolver modelos internos ou adotar o modelo padrão definido pelos reguladores europeus. O nosso objetivo neste trabalho foi construir um modelo interno para o ramo Acidentes de Trabalho no qual abrangemos todas as especificidades deste ramo. Numa parte, o modelo é baseado no modelo de Merz e Wuthrich (M & W) desenvolvido especificamente para o Solvência II. O modelo M & W tem como objetivo medir possíveis flutuações ao nível das reservas entre duas previsões sucessivas realizadas. Noutra parte, o modelo é baseado no estudo de longevidade sendo este um dos riscos mais importantes discutidos hoje em dia e com elevado impacto sobre a gestão das pensões e no provisionamento realizado ao nível dos encargos de assistência vitalícia. Um modelo interno global necessita de modelar eficientemente a consequência de acidentes ocorridos e projetar a consequência de acidentes ainda não ocorridos. As seguradoras devem precaver o risco dos prémios cobrados se tornarem insuficientes para cobrir todas as obrigações assumidas. Recorremos ao uso extensivo de simulação para estimar alguns cenários extremos.Workers Compensation is one of the most interesting Property and Casualty branches to study in Portugal. Largely influenced by Annuities management that unlike what is common in most countries is classified as Life and Savings risk. Solvency II introduces new requirements that should be fulfilled by companies in order to protect consumers. Companies can opt to develop internal models or to adopt the standard model defined by European regulators. Our goal is to build an internal model for Workers Compensation. The model must cover all specificities of this branch. In one part, the model is based on the Merz and Wüthrich (M&W) model developed for Solvency II purposes. The M&W model aims to measure possible reserves fluctuations between two successive predictions for the total ultimate claim. In the second part, the model is based on longevity study. Longevity is one of the most important risks discussed nowadays and this has large impact on annuities management and lifetime assistance. A global internal model needs not only to model the consequence of occurred accidents but also to project the ones which have not occurred yet. Companies must prevent the risk of premiums being insufficient to cover all assumed liabilities. Extensive use of simulation is made to estimate some extreme scenarios

External Ventures: Why Firms Don't Develop All Their Inventions In-house

In this paper we consider why firms sometimes choose an external development path for their own inventions, despite the costs of contracting and the risks of opportunistic behaviour and expropriation. We model the probability that firms adopt an external development strategy using survey data from over 2700 Australian inventions. Our results indicate that firms pursue external development strategies in response to perceived project-level risk about the technical feasibility of the invention, especially when suported by confidence in the patent system. Our findings also confirm that small to medium size enterprises, highly leveraged large firms and firms with few co-specialized assets are more likely to pursue an external development strategy.Outsourcing R&D, managing technological risk, licensing innovation

From supply chains to demand networks. Agents in retailing: the electrical bazaar

A paradigm shift is taking place in logistics. The focus is changing from operational effectiveness to adaptation. Supply Chains will develop into networks that will adapt to consumer demand in almost real time. Time to market, capacity of adaptation and enrichment of customer experience seem to be the key elements of this new paradigm. In this environment emerging technologies like RFID (Radio Frequency ID), Intelligent Products and the Internet, are triggering a reconsideration of methods, procedures and goals. We present a Multiagent System framework specialized in retail that addresses these changes with the use of rational agents and takes advantages of the new market opportunities. Like in an old bazaar, agents able to learn, cooperate, take advantage of gossip and distinguish between collaborators and competitors, have the ability to adapt, learn and react to a changing environment better than any other structure. Keywords: Supply Chains, Distributed Artificial Intelligence, Multiagent System.Postprint (published version

Adjustment of Public Administration in EU Association Process

The object of this work is to show the present situation of public administration in Croatia concerning the process of Association to European Union and to define in which direction the further adjustment have to go. Namely, Croatia has by signing the Agreement of stabilization and association started a number of great adjusting of legalization with EU legal acquest, and great changes is nearly all parts of social and managing life. One of the most important bearer of stated changes is surely the public administration. It’s importance is additional empfahized by Madrid criterion too, that is, administrative criterion for the state candidates. Public administration will be defined as the main bearer of all changes, and the success of all reforms is based on successful reform of public administration. During investigation of the present statement and sugestions for the future adjustments, we investigated the present statement in negotiations of accession between Croatia and EU for the reason that they define the direction and the way of adjustment process. In Croatia the monitoring is present from the moment of request, and the results are carefully controlled and are published as returning informations and measurement for further process. Furthermore, the Government and Ministry for Foreign Affairs regulary publish the reports of achieved reforms and national programs which on the best way show the position of Croatia in the complette process. Everything stated before make the firm base for evaluation of the present, and the proposal for improvement of the statemnt. Instead of results, we can conclude that the process of reform of public adminsitration is nenecesary and it is the last time to do it. For the reason that the process of accommodation lasts some time, it can be said that the formal steps are present, but it is not even enough, because there is lack practice, and the time is shorter and shorter.association to EU, public administration, memebership criteria, reform of public administration, condition for membership, governance, tax system, health sector, energetics, references

Town planning and public housing

During the last seven years, Spain has experience importans legislativies changes in land and housing materia. The land law of 1990, conceive the urbanistic proficience as colectivity result and the cession of part of this proficience to the land owner. This law changes the point of view about the land ownership. The use of this legislation with the objetive to maximice the colectivity utility to a minimun ejecutation cost and the transfer of the proficience from some town zones to others, building systems of distribution of charges and benefits. The city of Cadiz is a particular case where is used and checked. With the housing legislation has been posible the creation of public housing companies, perfect complement to the public intervencion in thats materials. A special case is the San Fernando public housing company (Cadiz) with the objetive of intervention in the low rent housing market without cost for the Local Administration. Keywords: Town Planning, Public Intervention, Housing.

Teaching Strategies and Ontologies for E-Learning

* The work is partially suported by Russian Foundation for Basic Studies (grant 02-01-00466).The paper presents one approach aimed at developing teaching strategies based on the principles of ontological engineering. The research framework is targeted on development of methodology and technology that will scaffold the process of knowledge structuring for e-learning. The structuring procedure is the kernel of ontology development. Ontologies that describe the main concepts of the domains are used both for teaching and assessment techniques. Special stress is put on visual design as a powerful learning mindtool. The examples are taken from the courses on the foundations of artificial intelligence and intelligent systems development. These courses are delivered by the authors in St.Petersburg State Polytechnical University at School of Computer Science and in Poland in the First Independent University

The purchase of agricultural land a well thought out process in the agribusiness enterprises

The changing economic environment has and will continue to have an impact on the price of agricultural land and lease. It is the possession of this main asset for production (agricultural land) that is becoming increasingly important for the processes in the Agribusiness enterprises. The purpose of the article is to explore and present possible models for assessing the need to own agricultural land and how this asset affects the processes in the Agribusiness enterprises. The results focus on the need to identify and build a proper strategy in the Agribusiness enterprises, trends and processes in the pricing of land properties. The subject of the study is the determinants leading to changes in the prices of the agricultural land and lease, and their impact on the processes in the Agribusiness enterprises. The survey covers processes related to price dynamics, both at national level and external effects, determining trends in the country