A role-based software architecture to support mobile service computing in IoT scenarios

The interaction among components of an IoT-based system usually requires using low latency or real time for message delivery, depending on the application needs and the quality of the communication links among the components. Moreover, in some cases, this interaction should consider the use of communication links with poor or uncertain Quality of Service (QoS). Research efforts in communication support for IoT scenarios have overlooked the challenge of providing real-time interaction support in unstable links, making these systems use dedicated networks that are expensive and usually limited in terms of physical coverage and robustness. This paper presents an alternative to address such a communication challenge, through the use of a model that allows soft real-time interaction among components of an IoT-based system. The behavior of the proposed model was validated using state machine theory, opening an opportunity to explore a whole new branch of smart distributed solutions and to extend the state-of-the-art and the-state-of-the-practice in this particular IoT study scenario.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Entrepreneurship, Collective Entrepreneurship and the Producer-Owned Firm

Entrepreneurship is predominantly associated with the activities of an individual actor – the entrepreneur. It has also been related to the concept of firm ownership (e.g. Foss and Klein, 2005). This may lead to the conjecture that a collectively-owned firm is a setting for collective entrepreneurship. However, such reasoning encounters a number of taxing questions. If entrepreneurship is usually related to the individual, how does the collective embody entrepreneurial spirit and lead to effective outcomes? These and other questions will be addressed in this paper, which is mainly based on a review of the literature. The paper starts by providing an overview of the different schools of (economic) thought on entrepreneurship. Subsequently we discuss the implications for the conceptualization of entrepreneurship when it is not carried out by an individual but by a group of people. Finally, the notion of collective entrepreneurship will be framed within the context of the producer-owned firm in agriculture, by considering conditions under which collective entrepreneurship can be attributed to the cooperative.entreprepreneurship, cooperative, pro, Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

A comparative study of multiple-criteria decision-making methods under stochastic inputs

This paper presents an application and extension of multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods to account for stochastic input variables. More in particular, a comparative study is carried out among well-known and widely-applied methods in MCDM, when applied to the reference problem of the selection of wind turbine support structures for a given deployment location. Along with data from industrial experts, six deterministic MCDM methods are studied, so as to determine the best alternative among the available options, assessed against selected criteria with a view toward assigning confidence levels to each option. Following an overview of the literature around MCDM problems, the best practice implementation of each method is presented aiming to assist stakeholders and decision-makers to support decisions in real-world applications, where many and often conflicting criteria are present within uncertain environments. The outcomes of this research highlight that more sophisticated methods, such as technique for the order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) and Preference Ranking Organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE), better predict the optimum design alternative

Bibliometric analysis of quality function deployment with fuzzy systems

Research on quality function deployment (QFD) with fuzzy systems has increased since the 2000s. The growing number of QFD applications with fuzzy systems indicates worldwide attention on this field of research. Then, two research questions arise: Are there some trends? And, are there some research gaps? This paper presents bibliometric analysis to answer those questions, performed on data from Scopus database, in a total output of 598 documents. Only articles and reviews were searched. China is the leading country in publication and international collaboration (207 published documents, more than a third of total). The main finding of analysis is the trend of QFD integration with fuzzy and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. This could be observed with different applications as new product development, quality management, service quality, and supply chain management, to name a few.CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior(undefined