403 research outputs found
Boundary spanning and knowledge brokering for digital innovation
The adoption of digital innovations in construction is a topic with growing importance,
as organisations restructure to adopt and sustain innovations. Building Information
Modelling (BIM) is currently at the forefront of this digital shift in Architecture,
Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. The relation between knowledge
sharing and sustained innovation adoption in organisations has been previously
acknowledged by management scholars. There is further room to adopt a
structurational view of knowledge and focus on how agency contributes to knowledge
sharing for increasing digital innovation adoption in firms. This paper uses the
theoretical lens of boundaries and boundary brokers to guide the data selection and
interpret a rich dataset about boundary brokers of digital innovation. The research aim
is to explore how these boundary brokers, referred to as digital innovation champions,
facilitate knowledge of digital innovations and BIM to support digital transformation
in firms. A single case study of a large international multi-disciplinary consultancy was
used as a research setting. Data were collected through interviews with the digital
champions as well as with additional data collected from the internal online platform
for data triangulation and research validation. Key findings include the multi-faceted
levels of boundaries crossed by the digital champions to share knowledge about digital
innovation: hierarchical, professional and organisational boundaries. Namely, the
digital champions were found to hold multiple memberships in groups, holding both
technical and inter-personal competences as well as engaging in conflict resolution.
The study concludes with implications for practice and suggests courses of actions to
increase knowledge sharing in firms for innovation adoption by developing and
incentivising individuals
Boundary-spanning for managing digital innovation in the AEC sector
Managing projects in Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) undergoes a digital transformation as novel technologies emerge. Digital technologies, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), push this transformation. Innovation happens in firms and project-based organisations where agents shape how digital technologies are adopted and implemented. This study offers insights into agents of digital innovation, by conducting engaged scholarship within the case study of one large international multi-disciplinary consultancy. The study first builds upon qualitative data collected by interviewing digital agents. Additional data, for triangulation and research validation, were collected from an internal online platform. The analysis revealed a disconnect between digital agents’ technical background, skills and their managerial routines. These individuals crossed professional, hierarchical and organisational boundaries, showed multi-membership and held fluid identities. This has implications for the interfaces between organisational behaviour and projects. The study concludes with suggestions for AEC organisations to reap the benefits of digitalisation
The dynamic interrelationship between interest rate and macroeconomic policy objectives: Case of the United Kingdom
Abstract. The objective of this study is to provide empirical evidence on the short- and long-run relationships between the short-term interest rate, London interbank offered rate (LIBOR) and macroeconomic policy objectives, such as price stability, economic growth, and stability of the exchange rate market. For this purpose, we deploy quarterly frequency data from the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2015 and adopt a multiple regression model. Furthermore, this study uses the Johansen, Stock-Watson cointegration test and the Granger Causality test in order to examine the dynamic short- and long-run relationships among LIBOR, the consumer price index as a proxy of price stability, the real gross domestic product as a proxy of economic growth, and the exchange rate as a proxy of exchange rate market stability. The results showed that all variables have the same order of integration and long-run equilibrium relationships exist between them. The results show evidence of long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables with strong evidence of unidirectional granger causality flow from GDP, CPI and exchange rates to LIBOR. The recommendations proposed in this study have important policy implications for the U.K. government. It is therefore recommended that policy makers and government authorities together with the Bank of England develop and pursue sensible fiscal and monetary policies that would aim at stabilizing both the micro- and macroeconomic indicators such as the inflation rate, interest rate, exchange rate, and money supply, to enhance the growth of the economy, especially for the period after the BREXIT decision.Keywords. Macroeconomics, Interest rate, Monetary policy, London interbank offered rate, United Kingdom.JEL. E43, E51, E58
Quantum Criticality in Dimerized Spin Ladders
We analyze a possibility of quantum criticality (gaplessness) in dimerized
antiferromagnetic two- and three-leg spin-1/2 ladders. Contrary to earlier
studies of these models, we examine different dimerization patterns in the
ladder. We find that ladders with the columnar dimerization order have lower
zero-temperature energies and they are always gapped. For the staggered
dimerization order, we find the quantum critical lines, in agreement with
earlier analyses. The bond mean-field theory we apply, demonstrates its
quantitative accuracy and agrees with available numerical results. We conclude
that unless some mechanism for locking dimerization into the energetically less
favorable staggered configuration is provided, the dimerized ladders do not
order into the phase where the quantum criticality occurs.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure
Calculation of the singlet-triplet gap of the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg Model on the ladder
The ground state energy and the singlet-triplet energy gap of the
antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on a ladder is investigated using a mean
field theory and the density matrix renormalization group. Spin wave theory
shows that the corrections to the local magnetization are infinite. This
indicates that no long range order occurs in this system. A flux-phase state is
used to calculate the energy gap as a function of the transverse coupling,
, in the ladder. It is found that the gap is linear in for
and goes to zero for . The mean field theory
agrees well with the numerical results.Comment: 11pages,6 figures (upon request) Revtex 3.0, Report#CRPS-94-0
Digital innovation in Europe: Regional differences across one international firm
Comparing the implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) across
geographies has emerged recently as an important discussion area, but it has been
rarely researched. Research of BIM maturity across countries is vital for observing
similarities and differences in adopting innovations and establishing strategies to
transfer lessons across national boundaries. This is addressed by comparing BIM
implementation in 146 projects of seven European countries: Denmark, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain (respectively 2, 21, 70, 11, 13, 15,
14 projects). These projects were from one international firm that works on different
aspects of the built environment. A BIM maturity assessment, the BIM Maturity
Measure (BIM-MM) was applied on these projects. Findings show that in overall,
BIM maturity is the highest in Spain, followed by the Netherlands. However, when
looking individually at the measured criteria, it has been observed that regions tend to
do better than others in certain areas. Denmark and the Netherlands, for instance,
have the highest percentage of projects with high maturity levels in 'Open Standard
Deliverables'. Therefore, the various digital artefacts that fall under the umbrella of
BIM, are adopted at varying levels across countries. It is hoped that this study will
deepen the understanding of BIM maturity across regions and influence new research
and policies that build a collective approach to explore digital innovation in Europe
A Microstructure Sensitive Approach for the Prediction of the Creep Behaviour and Life under Complex Loading Paths
The prediction of the creep behaviour and life of components of aeronautic engines like high pressure turbine blades is still a challenging issue due to non-isothermal loadings. Indeed, certification procedures of turboshaft engines for helicopters consist of complex thermomechanical histories, sometimes including short and very high temperature excursions close to the γ’-solvus (T~1200°C) of the blade alloy. A better design of those components could be gained using a model that takes into account non-isothermal loadings inducing microstructural changes.
Most of the commonly used models consider only a nearly constant (or slowly evolving) microstructure, i.e. far from the rapid microstructure evolutions encountered during close γ’-solvus overheatings where a rapid dissolution/precipitation of the γ’-phase and fast recovery mechanisms were observed by Cormier et al. (2007b). A new constitutive modelling approach was hence recently proposed in a crystal viscoplasticity framework to capture the transient effects of such rapid microstructure evolutions on the creep behaviour and life (Cormier and Cailletaud (2010a)).
In this article, an updated version of this model is detailed. Special attention will be paid to (i) the effect of the accumulated plastic strain on the microstructure evolution, (ii) the introduction of an additional damage formulation, and (iii) the creep strain at failure. The performances of the model are illustrated on the basis of isothermal or complex non-isothermal creep experiments performed on nearly [001] oriented samples
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON THE POWER ELECTRONIC TRANSISTOR PARAMETERS INFLUENCE TO THE NEAR-FIELD RADIATION FOR THE EMC APPLICATIONS
Abstract—With the increases of the module integration density and complexity in electrical and power electronic systems, serious problems related to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) can occur. For the safety, these disturbing effects must be considered during the electronic equipment design process. One of the concerns on EMC problems is induced by unintentional near-field (NF) radiations. The modeling and measurement of EM NF radiations is one of the bottlenecks which must be overcome by electronic engineers. To predict the unwanted different misbehaviors caused by the EM radiation, NF test benches for the reconstitution of scanning maps at some millimeters of electrical/electronic circuits under test were developed at the IRSEEM laboratory. Due to the difficulty of the design with commercial simulators, the prediction of EM NF emitted by active electronic systems which are usually based on the use of transistors necessitates more relevant and reliable analysis techniques. For this reason, the main focus of this article is on the experimental analysis of EM NF radiated by an MOSFET transistor with changing electrical parameters. Descriptions of the experimental test bench for the EM map scan of transistors radiation are provided. This experimental setup allows not only to detect the EM NF emission but also to analyze the influence of the excitation signal parameter
Anisotropic two-dimensional Heisenberg model by Schwinger-boson Gutzwiller projected method
Two-dimensional Heisenberg model with anisotropic couplings in the and
directions () is considered. The model is first solved in the
Schwinger-boson mean-field approximation. Then the solution is Gutzwiller
projected to satisfy the local constraint that there is only one boson at each
site. The energy and spin-spin correlation of the obtained wavefunction are
calculated for systems with up to sites by means of the
variational Monte Carlo simulation. It is shown that the antiferromagnetic
long-range order remains down to the one-dimensional limit.Comment: 15 pages RevTex3.0, 4 figures, available upon request, GWRVB8-9
Semiclassical description of spin ladders
The Heisenberg spin ladder is studied in the semiclassical limit, via a
mapping to the nonlinear model. Different treatments are needed if the
inter-chain coupling is small, intermediate or large. For intermediate
coupling a single nonlinear model is used for the ladder. Its predicts
a spin gap for all nonzero values of if the sum of the spins
of the two chains is an integer, and no gap otherwise. For small , a better
treatment proceeds by coupling two nonlinear sigma models, one for each chain.
For integer , the saddle-point approximation predicts a sharp drop
in the gap as increases from zero. A Monte-Carlo simulation of a spin 1
ladder is presented which supports the analytical results.Comment: 8 pages, RevTeX 3.0, 4 PostScript figure
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