DESIGN AS A FUNCTIONAL LEADER: A case study of Philips to investigate the potential of design as a leading functional discipline

This research investigates the role of design as a functional leader in multinational industries, to drive innovation successfully at a strategic level. It involved a detailed case study of the innovation process, and practices within Philips Design based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, where design is a key decision making function within the company but not yet recognised as a leading discipline at strategic level. Philips Design wanted to use design research to build an integrated map of its actual practices and correlate these with other corporate innovation practices, to help establish strategic recognition for their value. The doctoral challenge was to explicate the process and determine whether the findings have generic capacity to support the role of design as a functional leading discipline. The investigation integrates an iterative loop of; abductive reasoning of design thinking and inductive reasoning of management thinking in an action research cycle. The case study was part of an empirical enquiry, where the researcher became a participatory observer at Philips Design, conducting one-on-one interviews for data collection and refining their analysis using a Delphi Technique. Three other multinational organisations were explored to take into account how each perceives the contribution of design and the different roles it plays in their organisation. Data triangulation was also used to validate findings with a third party expert. The research contributes to knowledge by confirming the conditions for design to act as a leading functional discipline. It shows that design cannot be the only functional lead for a multinational organisation. It identifies the major reason for this as the difference between thinkers trying to find viable options for the future and practitioners trying to defend the core business in their organisation, resulting in a gap between strategy and operation. The research further elaborates on the reasons for the gap to exist through qualitative conceptual relationships between designer behaviour and organisational culture in the different innovation cycles that exist in the organisation

Modeling and Control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Port-Hamiltonian Approach

Recently, in robotics there is an increasing interest in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) due to the existence of diverse potential applications in the civilian sector. UAVs are characterized by their under-actuatedness and\ud highly nonlinear and inherently coupled dynamics, which makes the design of an autonomous controller challenging. To address this problem, developing a competent dynamic model of the UAV is an essential step. Such a dynamic..

Connecting for Impact - Multidisciplinary Approaches to Innovation in Small to Medium Sized enterprises (SMEs)

This paper reveals the methodology developed and adopted by groups of Multidisciplinary Design Innovation Masters students whilst working on projects with regional Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SME’s). It exposes an eight-stage approach and shows how the creation of a ‘problem-space tapestry’ acts as a mediator between different disciplinary approaches. The authors used a combination of observation, interview, post project-analysis and auto ethnographic reflection in order to uncover this process and to draw conclusions about the conditions that are necessary to support university based multidisciplinary design-led innovation projects of this type

Hidden value - towards an understanding of the full impact of engaging students in user-led research and innovation projects between universities and companies

‘Live’ projects have been the staple of degree programmes in design for as long as design education has existed. They represent the perfect vehicle through which students can test their evolving knowledge and skills. They provide an ideal constructivist platform through which problem-centred, authentic learning can be achieved and deliver immediate value to student learning. This study explores the value to the other stakeholders in such projects: the Company and the University. A suite of projects undertaken over a ten-year period between a leading Design School and one of the largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies in the world has been reviewed. Semi-structured interviews with Company employees and academics have been used to establish the impact of each project, and this data has been mapped against the original objective of each project in order to identify the hidden value of these collaborations. Through this exploration of a decade of University-Company collaborations, the authors identify levels of engagement that go beyond the ‘live project’. The paper illustrates the value of such projects for the ‘client’ organisation, and the academic community, as well as reflecting, briefly, on the student experience

Mersha Alehegne: The Ethiopian Commentary on the Book of Genesis: Critical Edition and Translation

 Dissertation Abstract   

Sero-prevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia and its potential risk factors in selected sites of Western Oromia, Ethiopia

Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a disease of cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. Mycoides small colonies and it is one of the most important threats to cattle health and production in Ethiopia, such as at livestock farm of Bako Agricultural Research Center (BARC) an outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia occurred in May, 2011 and many animals were affected and died before the disease was identified. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the seroprevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia in the selected districts of Western Oromia Zones as well as to assess the risk factors associated with the occurrence of the disease. Therefore, a cross-sectional study design was conducted from November 2013 to March 2014 in three selected districts from three Western Oromia Zones. A total of 386 sera were examined for the presence of specific antibodies of the disease by using competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). In this study, districts, peasant associations, age, sex, breed and body conditions were considered as risk factors. Thus, the overall seroprevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia in this study was 28.5%. The seroprevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia at districts level were 40.3%, 19.0 % and 5.7 % in Gobbu-Sayyo, Bako-Tibbe and Horro district, respectively. There was a statistically significant variation (p < 0.05) in prevalence of the disease among the districts. However, age, sex, breed and body condition were not significant (p > 0.05) with the serostatus of the animal. In conclusion, the present study indicated that the overall prevalence of CBPP in Western Oromia Zones was high, This warrants the need of the institute to follow appropriate preventive and control measures to stop further spread of the disease and appropriate controlling and prevention should be designed in general as a country level and further study should be done in the future to know the temporal pattern of the disease.Keywords: Seroprevalence, CBPP, Risk factors, cELISA, Western OromiaZones, Ethiopi

The Status of Rural Land Tenure Security in Dejen Woreda, North-West Ethiopia

This study was carried out with the objective of examining the status of rural land tenure security in Dejen woreda, north-west Ethiopia. Using simple random sampling technique, 360 households were selected. Qualitative and quantitative data emanated from both primary and secondary sources using questionnaire, interview, and focus group discussion. While qualitative data were analyzed using. narrative and interpretative methods, quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found out that most of the rural community believes that rural land is not owned by private farmers rather they perceive that land is under joint ownership which is even vague for them. As a result, an overwhelming majority of the respondents preferred private ownership of rural land.   Similarly, land redistribution is found to have a stronger support from the rural community, especially the newly emerging rural households. The bargaining power of the rural community to decide on their land holdings is also minimal. Land holders are not included in the land valuation committee when their land is to be taken. Hence, the amount of compensation for their lost land is decided by another external body and the amount is very small. On the other hand, the land registration and certification programs are found to have some positive effects on the farming community. However, a significant portion of the community is still not satisfied by the role of the land certificate in securing land rights. The study has also found that sex of the respondent, expectation of land redistribution, access to credit service, number of plots, application of tree planting, application of terracing and land certificate have significant roles in determining farmers’ sense of land tenure security. Taking the aforementioned findings of the study together, it is possible to state that the community in the study area has a problem of land tenure security. Therefore, the study recommended that the government shall make a policy shift from state ownership of rural land to private ownership modality. Keywords: Land Tenure Security, Land Registration & Certification, Land Redistribution, Compensation DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/89-03 Publication date: November 30th 202

Does Access to Formal Financial Sources Leads to Growth of Micro and Small Enterprises? Evidence from West Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Ethiopian MSEs are at early stage of development, and face various constraints. One of the most crucial problems is lack of access to formal financial sources for start-up and operational activities. However, the impact of access to finance on MSEs growth is still controversial. The main objective of this study is to investigate the contribution of access to formal financial sources on growth of MSEs in Ethiopia. 200 sample MSEs selected from three towns in west Oromia region are used for this study. The finding indicated that access to finance is not a fundamental factor for the growth of MSEs. Only entrepreneur capability and preparation of business plan before starting the business are found to be significantly contributing to the growth of MSEs. The researchers recommend that concerned parties including MSE agencies, TVET colleges and Universities should emphasis on capacitating graduates and MSE operators’ entrepreneurial and managerial capability. Keywords: Access to Finance, Banks, Growth, Micro and Small Enterprises, Micro Finance Institutions

The Ethiopian Well-Known Trademark Protection System and Its Implication on Foreign Direct Investment

Due to the ever increasing trans-border movement, internet connection and globalization, individuals in different corner of the world are becoming easily accustomed to international well-known marks even though the owners of such marks do not produce/supply goods/services within a particular territory. Be this as it may, coupled with the conventional registration and territorial based system that is pursued in respect of the protection of trademarks, the dynamic change of such interaction among the global community have opened a fertile ground for trademark squatters to register and exploit the international well-known marks of others. On the backdrop of this fact, this manuscript investigates the Ethiopian well-known trademark protection system in light of its capacity to promote the interest of the country, in particular in respect of its potential implication on the foreign direct investment flow of the country. The study has made use of primary and secondary sources of data and qualitative analysis to investigate the implication of the regime on the foreign direct investment flow of the country. The finding is that the existing international well-known trademark protection legal framework, which hangs up the special protection of such marks to a future international convention, apart from its potential threat on franchise business and foreign direct investment flow, it is deterring the country from benefiting out of employment opportunities and declaration fees which the country shall consider forth with. Keywords: International well-known trademark, Foreign Direct Investment, Franchise business, Registration, Territorial. DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/106-01 Publication date: February 28th 202

Assessment of Transparency Practices in Urban Land Administration: The Case of Wolkite Town Manucipality, Ethiopia

Good governance in land administration is becoming an important issue in both developed and developing countries. This study has been undertaken to assess transparency practices in urban land administration in wolkite town municipality, Ethiopia. The study employed a cross sectional survey research design. Data were collected both from primary and secondary sources using surveys, key informants interviews, focused group discussions and document analysis. Questionnaire survey data were collected from 380 sampled household respondents; and analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). The study found that there was limited access to land information to most urban residents; and clarity of land services were failed to be transparent to its customers. The study also revealed that the decision making process was not open and participatory. The major challenges of land administration in the study area were corruption, bureaucracy, political interference, poor management and incompetence. The study concludes that the land administration services were not transparent based on the views and experiences of survey respondents. It is recommended that enlighten urban residents on urban land  laws, rules and regulations, ensuring accessibility of information, capacitating service providers  and increase application of information communication technologies are essential to ensure transparent land governance and administration in the study area. Keywords: Clarity; Accessibility; Transparency; Land Administration; Wolikte Town DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/14-17-02 Publication date:September 30th 202