Entrepreneurship and Creative Destruction

The study deals with reasons for the inefficient operation of the business sector in the economy through the analysis of the relationship between disruptive innovation and creative destruction. The research is carried out in the following logical sequence: the first stage presents William Baumol’s hypothesis about why entrepreneurship makes some societies richer and some poorer

Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) as a predictor of prolonged urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy

Objectives: To investigate monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) as a novel urinary biomarker to predict prolonged post prostatectomy incontinence. Methods: Men submitted urine samples prior to robotic radical prostatectomy. MCP-1 values were derived using an ELISA test. Pad usage at 7, 30, and 60 days were documented by patient post cards mailed when zero pads was reached. The primary outcome was defined as no incontinence pad usage at 30 days at prostatectomy. Results: After exclusions, 76 patients were included in analyses. Continence was reached by 29% (22/76), 56% (42/76), and (75/76) 98% at 7, 30, and 60 days, respectively. The average MCP-1 (p=0.258) was not different between the continent and incontinent groups. Highest quartile of MCP-1 (MCP > 166 pg/mL) and normalized MCP-1 (MCP-1/TV >0.53) noted a significant delay in continence at 30 days (p=0.050 and p=0.003). Only 26% (5/19) in the highest MCP1/TV quartile were continent, whereas 65% (37/57) of men in the 3 lower quartiles reached zero pad continence (p=0.003). In a logistic regression model the highest quartile of MCP1/TV had a significant chance of being incontinent at 30 days (OR 0.22; 95% CI 0.058-0.80; p=0.022). Conclusion: MCP-1/TV is a urinary biomarker that may predict prolonged urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy

Towards a Context-Aware Knowledge Model for Smart Service Systems

The advancement of the Internet of things, big data, and mobile computing leads to the need for smart services that enable the context awareness and the adaptability to their changing contexts. Today, designing a smart service system is a complex task due to the lack of an adequate model support in awareness and pervasive environment. In this paper, we present a context-aware knowledge model for smart service systems that organizes the domain and context-aware knowledge into knowledge components based on the three levels of services: Services, Service system and Network of service systems. The context-aware knowledge model for smart service systems integrates all the information and knowledge related to smart services, knowledge components and context awareness that can play a key role for any framework, infrastructure, or applications deploying smart services. To demonstrate the approach, a case study about a chatbot as a smart service for customer support is presented

Proportions of bird damage in tree fruits are higher in low-fruit-abundance contexts

Frugivorous birds impose significant costs on tree fruit growers through direct consumption of fruit and grower efforts to manage birds.We documented factors that influenced tree fruit bird damage from 2012 through 2014 with a coordinated field study in Michigan, New York, and Washington. For sweet cherries, percent bird damage was higher in 2012 compared to 2013 and 2014, in Michigan and New York compared toWashington, and in blocks with more edges adjacent to non-sweet cherry land-cover types. These patterns appeared to be associated with fruit abundance patterns; 2012 was a particularly lowyield year for tree fruits in Michigan and New York and percent bird damage was high. In addition, percent bird damage to sweet and tart cherries in Michigan was higher in landscapes with low to moderate forest cover compared to higher forest cover landscapes. \u27Honeycrisp\u27 apple blocks under utility wires were marginally more likely to have greater bird damage compared to blocks without wires. We recommend growers prepare bird management plans that consider the spatial distribution of fruit and non-fruit areas of the farm. Growers should generally expect to invest more in bird management in low-yield years, in blocks isolated from other blocks of the same crop, and in blocks where trees can provide entry to the crop for frugivorous birds

Mapping the physiography of Michigan with GIS

Abstract: We present a new physiographic map of Michigan, that is also available interactively, online. Only four, small-scale physiographic maps of Michigan had been previously published. Our mapping project made use of a wide variety of spatial data, in a GIS environment, to visualize and delineate the physical landscape in more detail than has been done previously. We also examined many of the unit boundaries in the field, using a GIS running on a GPS-enabled laptop. Unlike previous physiographic maps, the online version of the map enables users to query the criteria used to define each of the 224 boundaries of its 10 major and 91 minor physiographic units. The interactive nature of the online version of the map is a unique enhancement to physiographic maps and mapping. Our study also provides data on the number and types of criteria used to define each of the 224 unit boundaries within the map. Most of our unit boundaries are based on data derived from 10-m raster elevation data and NRCS soils data, e.g., relief, soil wetness, escarpments, landscape fabric, and parent material characteristics. Data gleaned from NRCS SSURGO county-scale soil maps were a strength of the project

Expanding understanding of service exchange and value co-creation: A social construction approach

According to service-dominant logic (S-D logic), all providers are service providers, and service is the fundamental basis of exchange. Value is co-created with customers and assessed on the basis of value-in-context. However, the extensive literature on S-D logic could benefit from paying explicit attention to the fact that both service exchange and value co-creation are influenced by social forces. The aim of this study is to expand understanding of service exchange and value co-creation by complementing these central aspects of S-D logic with key concepts from social construction theories (social structures, social systems, roles, positions, interactions, and reproduction of social structures). The study develops and describes a new framework for understanding how the concepts of service exchange and value co-creation are affected by recognizing that they are embedded in social systems. The study contends that value should be understood as value-in-social-context and that value is a social construction. Value co-creation is shaped by social forces, is reproduced in social structures, and can be asymmetric for the actors involved. Service exchanges are dynamic, and actors learn and change their roles within dynamic service systems

Facilitating Organisational Fluidity with Computational Social Matching

Striving to operate in increasingly dynamic environments, organisations can be seen as fluid and communicative entities where traditional boundaries fade away and collaborations emerge ad hoc. To enhance fluidity, we conceptualise computational social matching as a research area investigating how to digitally support the development of mutually suitable compositions of collaborative ties in organisations. In practice, it refers to the use of data analytics and digital methods to identify features of individuals and the structures of existing social networks and to offer automated recommendations for matching actors. In this chapter, we outline an interdisciplinary theoretical space that provides perspectives on how interaction can be practically enhanced by computational social matching, both on the societal and organisational levels. We derive and describe three strategies for professional social matching: social exploration, network theory-based recommendations, and machine learning-based recommendations.Striving to operate in increasingly dynamic environments, organisations can be seen as fluid and communicative entities where traditional boundaries fade away and collaborations emerge ad hoc. To enhance fluidity, we conceptualise computational social matching as a research area investigating how to digitally support the development of mutually suitable compositions of collaborative ties in organisations. In practice, it refers to the use of data analytics and digital methods to identify features of individuals and the structures of existing social networks and to offer automated recommendations for matching actors. In this chapter, we outline an interdisciplinary theoretical space that provides perspectives on how interaction can be practically enhanced by computational social matching, both on the societal and organisational levels. We derive and describe three strategies for professional social matching: social exploration, network theory-based recommendations, and machine learning-based recommendations.Peer reviewe

The manufacturer's value chain as a service - the case of remanufacturing

Manufacturing enterprises globally have already largely adopted the product-service strategy into their operations. However, due to gradual commoditization of services, manufacturing enterprises will have to further extend this strategy. One possibility is for manufacturers to servitize, not only their final products, but also a part of their value chain, with the aim of increasing their long-term competitive advantage. In this article, the application of servitization to remanufacturing, as a set of operational and business competences and processes, is conceptualized. By offering remanufacturing as a service, manufacturers will create an additional revenue stream. The synergies created from integrating remanufacturing into an enterprise with a product-service system are scrutinized. The impact of offering remanufacturing as a service (servitizing) is then assessed from the perspective of the competitive advantage of both, the provider and the consumer of the service. Three main sets of implications are identified. The first is that the integration of remanufacturing into a product-service system could increase customer satisfaction through a larger service scope and higher service quality, while decreasing operational costs. Furthermore, it is shown that the higher the level of servitization, the stronger is the positive impact of remanufacturing. The second set of results shows that servitizing remanufacturing can substantially increase the competitive advantage of both the provider and the consumer. While the first two sets of results have industrially oriented implications, the third set constitutes a theoretical contribution through the proposal and conceptual validation of extension of the application of servitization theory. Finally, while the reasoning is of a conceptual nature, it is based on established theories and includes remanufacturing-related industrial cases as a basis for assessment