The Mass and Ion Kinetic Energy Spectra of Fluoro-Chloro Substituted Norbornanes and Nortricyclanes

The mass and ion kinetic energy spectra of difluoro- and fluoro- chloro-norbornanes and fluoro-chloro-nortricyclanes have been examined. In several instances the similarity of the mass spectra makes it impossible to distinguish the diastereoisomers from each other. In contrast, however, their ion kinetic energy spectra differ clearly and allow unambiguous differentiation of the stereoisomers

Assessing the relationship between bpm maturity and the success of organizations

Pinto, J., & dos Santos, V. D. (2020). Assessing the relationship between bpm maturity and the success of organizations. In R. Silhavy (Ed.), Applied Informatics and Cybernetics in Intelligent Systems: Proceedings of the 9th Computer Science On-line Conference, CSOC 2020 (pp. 108-126). (Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing; Vol. 1226 AISC). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51974-2_10For the past decades, organizations have been investing heavily in BPM projects in the hope of improving their competitive advantage in an increasingly complex environment. However, although it is believed that the higher the level of BPM maturity the greater the success of the organization, experience shows that this relationship is not always possible to prove. The purpose of this study is to help clarify the relationship between the level of BPM maturity and the success of an organization. This was done through the implementation of a case study-based research within a global company, focusing on the shared services organization. An analysis of the existing BPM maturity models and its level of coverage of BPM core areas was conducted to select the most suitable BPM maturity model to conduct the assessment of the current BPM maturity level. It was also established a framework to characterize the success of an organization. These two inputs, along with information gathered to understand implemented process improvements, were the basis for conducting the research. Results show a successful organization, with a high maturity level according to the BPM OMG maturity model, that has been investing in continually improving its processes with a strong focus on digital transformation. The identified benefits from a high level of BPM maturity, namely improved productivity, cost reduction, error & risk prevention, higher agility, employee upskilling and knowledge retention, were shown to have a positive influence in the majority of the dimensions used to characterize the success of the organization.authorsversionpublishe

A physarum-inspired approach to supply chain network design

A supply chain is a system which moves products from a supplier to customers, which plays a very important role in all economic activities. This paper proposes a novel algorithm for a supply chain network design inspired by biological principles of nutrients’ distribution in protoplasmic networks of slime mould Physarum polycephalum. The algorithm handles supply networks where capacity investments and product flows are decision variables, and the networks are required to satisfy product demands. Two features of the slime mould are adopted in our algorithm. The first is the continuity of flux during the iterative process, which is used in real-time updating of the costs associated with the supply links. The second feature is adaptivity. The supply chain can converge to an equilibrium state when costs are changed. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the practicality and flexibility of the proposed method algorithm

Unlocking the power of big data in new product development

This study explores how big data can be used to enable customers to express unrecognised needs. By acquiring this information, managers can gain opportunities to develop customer-centred products. Big data can be defined as multimedia-rich and interactive low-cost information resulting from mass communication. It offers customers a better understanding of new products and provides new, simplified modes of large-scale interaction between customers and firms. Although previous studies have pointed out that firms can better understand customers’ preferences and needs by leveraging different types of available data, the situation is evolving, with increasing application of big data analytics for product development, operations and supply chain management. In order to utilise the customer information available from big data to a larger extent, managers need to identify how to establish a customer-involving environment that encourages customers to share their ideas with managers, contribute their know-how, fiddle around with new products, and express their actual preferences. We investigate a new product development project at an electronics company, STE, and describe how big data is used to connect to, interact with and involve customers in new product development in practice. Our findings reveal that big data can offer customer involvement so as to provide valuable input for developing new products. In this paper, we introduce a customer involvement approach as a new means of coming up with customer-centred new product development

How to Exploit the Digitalization Potential of Business Processes

Process improvement is the most value-adding activity in the business process management (BPM) lifecycle. Despite mature knowledge, many approaches have been criticized to lack guidance on how to put process improvement into practice. Given the variety of emerging digital technologies, organizations not only face a process improvement black box, but also high uncertainty regarding digital technologies. This paper thus proposes a method that supports organizations in exploiting the digitalization potential of their business processes. To achieve this, action design research and situational method engineering were adopted. Two design cycles involving practitioners (i.e., managers and BPM experts) and end-users (i.e., process owners and participants) were conducted. In the first cycle, the method’s alpha version was evaluated by interviewing practitioners from five organizations. In the second cycle, the beta version was evaluated via real-world case studies. In this paper, detailed results of one case study, which was conducted at a semiconductor manufacturer, are included