The evolution of systems-integration capability in latecomer contexts: the case ofIran’s thermal and hydro power generation systems

This study concerns building capabilities within the electricity sector of Iran, a developing country. It focuses on two areas of high-technology development,• hydro electricity generation plants and thermal electricity generation plants, and investigates the accumulation of local capabilities to undertake large and complex development projects in these two areas. The empirical aim of the thesis is to analyse how far the local capabilities have advanced and what can be done to enhance them. The business of engineering and developing complex electricity generation systems, such as hydro and thermal power plants, is an example of high-value high-technology capital goods industries (sometimes referred to as CoPS in the innovation studies literature). This literature suggests that systems integration is a core capability of leading suppliers in CoPS industries. Most studies of capability building at the firm level in latecomer contexts, however, have focused on mass-manufacturing firms rather than on project-based ones. The CoPS literature, on the other hand, has investigated the concept of systems integration capability within the context of developed economies. Therefore, this research aims to examine latecomer systems integration capability (LSIC) in these two CoPS areas in Iran to develop our understanding of the nature and evolution of LSIC. This research is carried out as an exploratory case study, combining some elements of latecomer theory, systems integration and capability theory to develop the analytical framework for the study. The framework is then applied to evidence gathered from two major Iranian systems integrators that lead engineering and development activities involved in the construction of power plants. Evidence is gathered on the evolution of micro-level attributes, including people, knowledge, processes and structures, underlying LSIC, along with changes in products and outcomes of systems integration activities. These categories of evidence are combined with the evidence on the internal context of the firms and their external environment to reveal their achievements in the accumulation of LSIC, and to understand the dynamics behind the evolution of LSIC. The analysis of this thesis shows how the two Iranian firms entered into the business of systems integration of power plant systems, and have gradually built higher levels of LSIC, allowing them to succeed in competitive local and overseas markets, and to diversify into local markets for other complex projects. Nevertheless, there have been imbalances, spurts of rapid capability growth, periods of falling behind in specific areas of LSIC, close connections and relationships (amounting to a co-evolution among LSIC areas), and major investments and strategies to remedy imbalances, and to sustain the firms' progress. This thesis also attempts to explain these complex variations in the evolutionary paths of LSIC. In addition to contributing to the latecomer capability literature, this research suggests some policy and business strategy implications.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Towards an Intellectual Property Rights Strategy for Innovation in Europe

On October 13, 2009 the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel (STOA) together with Knowledge4Innovation/The Lisbon Forum, supported by Technopolis Consulting Group and TNO, organised a half-day workshop entitled ‘Towards an Intellectual Property Rights Strategy for Innovation in Europe’. This workshop was part of the 1st European Innovation Summit at the European Parliament which took place on 13 October and 14 October 2009. It addressed the topics of the evolution and current issues concerning the European Patent System as well as International Protection and Enforcement of IPR (with special consideration of issues pertaining to IP enforcement in the Digital Environment). Conclusions drawn point to the benefits of a comprehensive European IPR strategy, covering a broad range of IP instruments and topics

Multimedia delivery in the future internet

The term “Networked Media” implies that all kinds of media including text, image, 3D graphics, audio and video are produced, distributed, shared, managed and consumed on-line through various networks, like the Internet, Fiber, WiFi, WiMAX, GPRS, 3G and so on, in a convergent manner [1]. This white paper is the contribution of the Media Delivery Platform (MDP) cluster and aims to cover the Networked challenges of the Networked Media in the transition to the Future of the Internet. Internet has evolved and changed the way we work and live. End users of the Internet have been confronted with a bewildering range of media, services and applications and of technological innovations concerning media formats, wireless networks, terminal types and capabilities. And there is little evidence that the pace of this innovation is slowing. Today, over one billion of users access the Internet on regular basis, more than 100 million users have downloaded at least one (multi)media file and over 47 millions of them do so regularly, searching in more than 160 Exabytes1 of content. In the near future these numbers are expected to exponentially rise. It is expected that the Internet content will be increased by at least a factor of 6, rising to more than 990 Exabytes before 2012, fuelled mainly by the users themselves. Moreover, it is envisaged that in a near- to mid-term future, the Internet will provide the means to share and distribute (new) multimedia content and services with superior quality and striking flexibility, in a trusted and personalized way, improving citizens’ quality of life, working conditions, edutainment and safety. In this evolving environment, new transport protocols, new multimedia encoding schemes, cross-layer inthe network adaptation, machine-to-machine communication (including RFIDs), rich 3D content as well as community networks and the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) overlays are expected to generate new models of interaction and cooperation, and be able to support enhanced perceived quality-of-experience (PQoE) and innovative applications “on the move”, like virtual collaboration environments, personalised services/ media, virtual sport groups, on-line gaming, edutainment. In this context, the interaction with content combined with interactive/multimedia search capabilities across distributed repositories, opportunistic P2P networks and the dynamic adaptation to the characteristics of diverse mobile terminals are expected to contribute towards such a vision. Based on work that has taken place in a number of EC co-funded projects, in Framework Program 6 (FP6) and Framework Program 7 (FP7), a group of experts and technology visionaries have voluntarily contributed in this white paper aiming to describe the status, the state-of-the art, the challenges and the way ahead in the area of Content Aware media delivery platforms

Implementing sustainability initiatives in business processes

Purpose – The sustainability topic has been receiving a growing importance in the corporate environment in recent years. More and more companies are adopting sustainability practices in all their organisational levels, operations and business process as a whole; however, they have still failed to achieve the anticipated goal. Existing roadmaps, frameworks and systems do not comprehensively support sustainable business transformation. This research proposes a four phases framework, based on BPM, to help organisations to implement sustainability practices in the organisation business processes and has verified it with industry/academic specialists and validated it in a local organisation focused on sustainability initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual framework has been created, verified and validated. The framework is based on Business Process Management (BPM) principles, which was chosen because due its capability to work in a cross process way while providing the full control of the process performance. It was then verified using a Delphi study held with 21 specialists in Sustainable Operations Management from both academia and industry and validated using an action research study on a biomass company focused in the development of sustainable energy technologies that wished to improve the implementation of sustainability initiatives in its business processes and operations. Findings – It was identified that organisations still struggle to succeed the implementation of sustainability projects. The research outlined that the business process management (BPM) approach can be used as way to implement sustainability practices in an organisation’s business processes by using the conceptual framework. The benefits from this approach are the enablement of continuous process improvement, improvement of process quality; cost reduction; increase in the customer satisfaction; and better control 3 over process performance, which can be directly linked to the improvement of the sustainability improvement.Research limitations/implication – The main limitation of this research is the application of the framework in only one real-life scenario, which was expected due the research method chosen to validate it. Future work aims to apply the framework in different scenarios, in organisations with different sizes, different maturity level, different sector, and different locations. Further research will also investigate the symbiosis of the BPM approach with other management approaches, such as lean/green manufacturing, project management, and green supply chain and carbon footprint. In addition, in a further moment, once companies are familiarised with the project methodology, it is possible to create a centre of excellence (an area within the organisation with the best practices/ processes of the industry) in terms of sustainability bringing even more value, improving continuously and generating more innovation by the form of green reference process models. Practical implications – The proposed framework uses a Business Process Management (BPM) approach, which provides a systemic solution for the organisations adopt sustainability practices in their business processes.This research was supported by a grant from the Brazilian government through the program Science Without Borders (SWB) provided by CAPES

Impact Investing Innovation: Bringing Together Public, Private and Third Sectors to Create Greater Value: The Case of the Public Private Partnership Initiative for the New Public Hospital of Treviso

This chapter documents the first pilot project integrating the social impact investing dimension in a large infrastructure project: the project finance for the upgrande and extension of the public hospital in Treviso (Northern Italy). The case study is a compelling example of ‘Shared Value’ highlighting the potential and limits of the theoretical framework developed by Porter and Kramer (Harvard Business Review, 89(1–2), 62–77, 2011)

Green buildings: A Maltese perspective

As construction and building development increases in the local scene, and the threat of climate change escalates, addressing green buildings on the national agenda is of vital importance. The building sector has a significant potential to implement positive change and hence become more efficient in terms of resource use. The term ‘green’ has been widely used throughout the last few decades to denote environmentally friendly policies, principles and measures. The ever growing popularity of the term was brought about by increasing concerns and issues such as those pertaining to climate change, energy crisis and resource depletion. Central to this debate are buildings, land use and development. Buildings have been identified as a major contributor and driver of climate change. In Malta, the ‘green debate’ emerged in the early nineties with its importance increasing year after year on the national agenda. This was further stimulated through Malta’s accession to the European Union; a process which saw local premature environmental legislation becoming coherent to EU futuristic policies. This thesis examines green building concepts, principles and practices within the Maltese context. This thesis explores the concept of a green building and the elements associated with its design and construction as well as the characteristics and influence of the various building rating systems

Integrative Trust-Based Functional Contracting: A Complementary Contractual Approach to BIM-Enabled Oil And Gas EPC Project Delivery

The research has successfully bridged the gap between contractual and technological practices for the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts in oil and gas projects. It has identified the related Building Information Modelling (BIM) uses and developed an integrative trust-based functional contracting that complement to EPC contracts. The research contributes to new functional perspectives of contracting and also provides significant insights into the proper use contract functions for improving BIM-enabled projects’ performance

Key factors influencing the outcome of Energy Projects procured using Public Private Partnerships in South Africa

Processes required for the procurement of construction projects by the public and private sectors must comply with many requirements and incentives, not least of which is usually the requirement to provide value for money. However, large capital works construction projects, particularly those undertaken by the public sector, have a tendency to over-run both their construction schedules and their budgets. This is amply demonstrated in South Africa by the construction of the Medupi and Kusile coal fired power stations by Eskom, the South African national power utility, which are both running over schedule and are projected to be over budget by 52% and 48% respectively. In contrast, Public Private Partnership contracts between the private sector and the South African government were recently used to construct large, utility scale renewable energy facilities in South Africa, with a total capacity equivalent to that of Medupi power station, on time and on budget. This research study considers the various procurement options in use globally for the construction of capital projects, before looking in detail at the Public Private Partnerships approach for infrastructure procurement, both globally and in the South African context for energy projects. The research study and aims to answer the questions, “What are the key factors that influence the outcome of energy projects procured using public private partnerships in South Africa?” and “What interventions could improve the success rates of projects procured using public private partnership contracts in South Africa?”. A social constructionist epistemology was adopted to guide the research, as the context of the research questions is complex requiring flexible research approaches, able to consider matters such as the perceptions of stakeholders involved in energy projects. The research study makes use of a systematic literature review of international publications, and a survey of individuals working in the South African renewable energy industry. The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis to identify themes, and further coded to identify the factors. The research study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge on the use of the effectiveness of the Public Private Partnerships approach used for the procurement of energy projects in South Africa as there appears to have been little research undertaken in this area to date