An examination, planning and control & the management process, to better performance and profitability or: The management process to improve performance for better profitability

Everest and Blanc (E&B) is at a crossroad. It grew from a ‘mom and pop’ operation into a small professional firm and plateaued. Thus, there is a desire to bring about operation efficiency, followed by expansion of the company. In order to be successful, a systematic decision making process is necessary to ensure a high probability of success, and able to pinpoint dysfunctions early for improvement. In addition, implementing processes need careful consideration and progress monitoring. This study was founded on these premises using M2 mode research methodology to establish an optimal structural course of action by surveying paradigms of management theories and concepts. The study began with an exposition on research methodologies and focused on the M2 research mode. It continued on with considering operations topics (micro concerns), extending to general issues (macro concerns) in conjunction with management theories and concepts. Finally a decision making model was shaped and applied to E&B. During the process, several important decisions were made, grounded on the findings on the research, such as relocating the corporate office anticipating expansion. Overall, the changes introduced, the process of change, the decision-making process, and implementation were all effective. The decision making model, SOMM, Strato Operation Management Model, is an extension of both Ansoff’s and Anthony’s management models together with the decision-making process. The emphasis is on the relationship of the system structure’s characteristics where it is symbolized by a matryoshka representing the three management modules (Strategic Management, Management Control and Planning and Tactical Operation) nesting within each other. Relating to the overall strategic and management control and planning competency, the workhorse is a combination of defensive and offensive approaches together with evaluation methodologies to capture emerging and unintended strategies and to control performance; whereas the tactical operation process is to bring about efficiency and effectiveness. These are new knowledge and policies cast into members of E&B. It is, therefore, fundamental that careful interventions are necessary to cause changes by motivation and to align goal congruency. Further, the inquiry had specifically focused on the needs of E&B, it did not preclude application to other organizations. For academics, it may be an engaging topic for further empirical studies advancing knowledge in management and operations. With respect to a wider world application, it was also concluded that the findings for E&B are applicable and adaptable to other professional and business concerns as innovative tools to their problems and issues

Technology 2003: The Fourth National Technology Transfer Conference and Exposition, volume 2

Proceedings from symposia of the Technology 2003 Conference and Exposition, Dec. 7-9, 1993, Anaheim, CA, are presented. Volume 2 features papers on artificial intelligence, CAD&E, computer hardware, computer software, information management, photonics, robotics, test and measurement, video and imaging, and virtual reality/simulation

NASA Aircraft Controls Research, 1983

The workshop consisted of 24 technical presentations on various aspects of aircraft controls, ranging from the theoretical development of control laws to the evaluation of new controls technology in flight test vehicles. A special report on the status of foreign aircraft technology and a panel session with seven representatives from organizations which use aircraft controls technology were also included. The controls research needs and opportunities for the future as well as the role envisioned for NASA in that research were addressed. Input from the panel and response to the workshop presentations will be used by NASA in developing future programs

Data Science-Based Full-Lifespan Management of Lithium-Ion Battery

This open access book comprehensively consolidates studies in the rapidly emerging field of battery management. The primary focus is to overview the new and emerging data science technologies for full-lifespan management of Li-ion batteries, which are categorized into three groups, namely (i) battery manufacturing management, (ii) battery operation management, and (iii) battery reutilization management. The key challenges, future trends as well as promising data-science technologies to further improve this research field are discussed. As battery full-lifespan (manufacturing, operation, and reutilization) management is a hot research topic in both energy and AI fields and none specific book has focused on systematically describing this particular from a data science perspective before, this book can attract the attention of academics, scientists, engineers, and practitioners. It is useful as a reference book for students and graduates working in related fields. Specifically, the audience could not only get the basics of battery manufacturing, operation, and reutilization but also the information of related data-science technologies. The step-by-step guidance, comprehensive introduction, and case studies to the topic make it accessible to audiences of different levels, from graduates to experienced engineers

Aerospace medicine and biology: A cumulative index to a continuing bibliography (supplement 345)

This publication is a cumulative index to the abstracts contained in Supplements 333 through 344 of Aerospace Medicine and Biology: A Continuing Bibliography. Seven indexes are included -- subject, personal author, corporate source, foreign technology, contract number, report number, and accession number

VARIANCES: Life Unpercepted. Against Teleological Entrenchment in Evolution and Design Alike

In this work of foresight, I communicated my perception of Taleb's policy paper and the Black Swan problem discussed in it. To this effect, I: 1. Re-conceptualized the concept of "foresight,” non-teleologically, and its “method”; 2. Revived Empedocles’ non-teleological philosophy of evolution with modern scientific data; 3. Located the real GMO safety problem in (you guessed it) teleology: in the suppression of dissent within institutions under a seeming assumption of knowing what waste is. Keywords: the problem of induction, GMO, safety, evolution, horizontal gene transfer, innovation, innovators, imagination, opinion spread, public mistrust, the expert problem, falsification, aging, fragility, fragilizing, corruption, complexity, cooperation, waste, networks, systems, probability, emergence, Biosphere, Noosphere, cybernetics, policy, design, risk, strategy, foresight, genetic engineering, social constructionism, Semmelweis reflex, Neo-Darwinism, Protestant work ethics, fear of loss, fear of missing out, generation, efficiency, optimization, precaution, precautionary principle, induction, inclusion, dissent, groupthink, deduction, retroduction, cognition, cognitive cycle, propagation, complex systems engineering, monopoly, monoculture, decision-making, Moravec's paradox, Korzybski, Vernadsky, Nietzsche, Taleb, Galam, Hume, Lem, Margulis, general semantics, general systems theory, non-Aristotelian, time binding, networks, researchers, peer revie

Data Science-Based Full-Lifespan Management of Lithium-Ion Battery

This open access book comprehensively consolidates studies in the rapidly emerging field of battery management. The primary focus is to overview the new and emerging data science technologies for full-lifespan management of Li-ion batteries, which are categorized into three groups, namely (i) battery manufacturing management, (ii) battery operation management, and (iii) battery reutilization management. The key challenges, future trends as well as promising data-science technologies to further improve this research field are discussed. As battery full-lifespan (manufacturing, operation, and reutilization) management is a hot research topic in both energy and AI fields and none specific book has focused on systematically describing this particular from a data science perspective before, this book can attract the attention of academics, scientists, engineers, and practitioners. It is useful as a reference book for students and graduates working in related fields. Specifically, the audience could not only get the basics of battery manufacturing, operation, and reutilization but also the information of related data-science technologies. The step-by-step guidance, comprehensive introduction, and case studies to the topic make it accessible to audiences of different levels, from graduates to experienced engineers

Breaking Down the Barriers To Operator Workload Estimation: Advancing Algorithmic Handling of Temporal Non-Stationarity and Cross-Participant Differences for EEG Analysis Using Deep Learning

This research focuses on two barriers to using EEG data for workload assessment: day-to-day variability, and cross- participant applicability. Several signal processing techniques and deep learning approaches are evaluated in multi-task environments. These methods account for temporal, spatial, and frequential data dependencies. Variance of frequency- domain power distributions for cross-day workload classification is statistically significant. Skewness and kurtosis are not significant in an environment absent workload transitions, but are salient with transitions present. LSTMs improve day- to-day feature stationarity, decreasing error by 59% compared to previous best results. A multi-path convolutional recurrent model using bi-directional, residual recurrent layers significantly increases predictive accuracy and decreases cross-participant variance. Deep learning regression approaches are applied to a multi-task environment with workload transitions. Accounting for temporal dependence significantly reduces error and increases correlation compared to baselines. Visualization techniques for LSTM feature saliency are developed to understand EEG analysis model biases

Advances and Technologies in High Voltage Power Systems Operation, Control, Protection and Security

The electrical demands in several countries around the world are increasing due to the huge energy requirements of prosperous economies and the human activities of modern life. In order to economically transfer electrical powers from the generation side to the demand side, these powers need to be transferred at high-voltage levels through suitable transmission systems and power substations. To this end, high-voltage transmission systems and power substations are in demand. Actually, they are at the heart of interconnected power systems, in which any faults might lead to unsuitable consequences, abnormal operation situations, security issues, and even power cuts and blackouts. In order to cope with the ever-increasing operation and control complexity and security in interconnected high-voltage power systems, new architectures, concepts, algorithms, and procedures are essential. This book aims to encourage researchers to address the technical issues and research gaps in high-voltage transmission systems and power substations in modern energy systems

Fourth Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications

Proceedings of a conference held in Huntsville, Alabama, on November 15-16, 1988. The Fourth Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Space Applications brings together diverse technical and scientific work in order to help those who employ AI methods in space applications to identify common goals and to address issues of general interest in the AI community. Topics include the following: space applications of expert systems in fault diagnostics, in telemetry monitoring and data collection, in design and systems integration; and in planning and scheduling; knowledge representation, capture, verification, and management; robotics and vision; adaptive learning; and automatic programming