Strategic alliances, organisational learning and new product development: the cases of Rover and Seat.

The importance of the automotive industry in the global economy is widely recognised. The sector has undergone enormous changes in order to prepare for the fierce competition of the 21st century. Among these transformations, the most relevant are those technologies developed for the rapid evolution of activities linked to new designs, new products, and new manufacturing processes and systems. Innovative Japanese carmakers have stimulated international performance comparisons in these activities. International technology alliances may be one way of gaining access to new competitive technologies. Risks and costs associated with new product development can be shared among the partners and more effective use can be made of manufacturing facilities and production capabilities. Sometimes, an alliance agreement may lead to the deployment of new capabilities. However, in spite of this potential, the literature presents the success rate of alliances at less than 50%. Our study considers two examples of companies that developed international joint ventures (IJVs): Rover with Honda, and Seat with Volkswagen. Since these two European peripheral companies, Rover and Seat, no longer remain as independent firms, we are interested in identifying the reasons leading to the success or failure of these IJVs as regards the New Product Development (NPD) process. In particular, in both cases the paper looks at the problems of the weaker partner becoming increasingly dependent on the other partner and the need for a well-defined strategy to benefit from IJVs.Alianzas estratégicas; desarrollo de productos; Rover; Seat;

Output-feedback anti-disturbance predictor-based control for discrete-time systems with time-varying input delays

[EN] This paper investigates the robust stabilization of discrete-time systems with time-varying input delays and model uncertainties by predictor-based anti-disturbance output-feedback control strategies. Here, a novel predictor-feedback control combined with an extended state observer is proposed. The objective is to counteract the negative effects of input delays while actively rejecting disturbance signals typically encountered in engineering practice, such as steps or harmonics. Differently from previous approaches, unknown but bounded time-varying delays are taken into consideration. Moreover, the complexity of the algorithm for control synthesis is notably reduced. Finally, an illustrative example from the literature is provided to show that better robust performance can be achieved with the proposed method.This work was partially supported by projects TIN201786520C31R, Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (Spain) , and PGC2018098719BI00, MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE, and Group DGA T4517R, Spain. The material in this paper was not presented at any conference. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Bin Zhou under the direction of Editor Ian R. Petersen.González Sorribes, A.; García Gil, PJ. (2021). Output-feedback anti-disturbance predictor-based control for discrete-time systems with time-varying input delays. Automatica. 129:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.automatica.2021.109627S1812

Arquitecturas de datos basadas en Internet de las Cosas y su aplicación

El internet de las cosas (IoT por sus siglas en inglés) se presenta como nuevo paradigma de los sistemas de información, capaz de ayudar en numerosos retos a los que se enfrenta nuestra sociedad: desde la lucha contra el cambio climático hasta el progreso por la consecución del derecho a una vida digna y feliz. Este nuevo paradigma plantea no solo posibilidades sino numerosos retos tecnológicos que deberán ser abordados aplicando el método científico, para el beneficio global. La privacidad de los datos y la seguridad de las comunicaciones adquieren nuevas problemáticas en un marco tan dinámico como el IoT, donde los datos fluyen rápidamente de productores a consumidores, son procesados por agentes intermediarios y su valor incrementado gracias a relaciones entre datos de distintos orígenes. Las características intrínsecas de los datos, ligadas frecuentemente a los propios dispositivos que los generan (como la precisión o la frecuencia de actualización), deben acompañar a estos datos en su viaje a través de Internet, aportando un contexto imprescindible para su correcta interpretación y utilización. La búsqueda de dichos datos en las inmensas colecciones donde se almacenan, así como la comprensión de los mismos es un reto, donde el volumen exige la utilización de técnicas de procesado automatizado e incluso la aplicación de técnicas basadas en inteligencia artificial. La distribución y transporte de estos grandes volúmenes de datos pueden suponer problemas para las redes de distribución, lo que unido a posibles exigencias de baja latencia en la respuesta, nos fuerzan a diseñar y aplicar novedosas estrategias para el procesado de dichos datos de forma local o próxima a donde han sido producidos. Finalmente, la capacidad de interconectar plataformas y sistemas de manera fácil, rápida y segura mediante arquitecturas modulares y flexibles, supone una necesidad, más que una ventaja competitiva, en una nueva economía dirigida por los datos. Estos problemas, atacados de forma individual, ofrecen interesantes escenarios de investigación y mejora, pero considerados de forma conjunta revelan una realidad aún más interesante, donde se hace evidente que el total de las partes es más que la suma de las mismas, revelando relaciones y sinergias entre los diseños de arquitecturas e interfaces, el modelado de los datos, la seguridad e incluso la distribución y orquestación de tareas. Este trabajo de tesis doctoral explora estos aspectos de una manera holística, integrando tecnologías y estándares existentes en el diseño y construcción de arquitecturas de datos para IoT seguras e interoperables, considerando modelado y representación ontológica de los datos y explorando también la distribución y orquestación de tareas entre el borde y la nube. Como resultado, se presentan tres contribuciones principales, orientadas a la exploración de las arquitecturas interoperables y seguras, la distribución y orquestación de tareas entre el borde y la nube y finalmente sobre la representación de conceptos de seguridad y privacidad de los datos en este nuevo paradigma. En estas contribuciones se ofrecen diversos escenarios y bancos de prueba de las mismas, demostrando su relevancia y valor de cara al desarrollo y avance de estas tecnologías.  The Internet of Things (IoT) is presented as a new information systems paradigm, capable of helping with a number of the difficult challenges faced by our modern society. From the fight against climate change to progress towards achieving the right to a dignified and happy life, this new paradigm poses not only possibilities but also numerous technological challenges. Data privacy and security face new problems in such a dynamic environment as the IoT, where data flows rapidly from producers to consumers, is processed by intermediaries and its value increases thanks to relationships between data from different sources. Where the search for said data and its understanding is a challenge and where huge data volumes require the use of automated processing and the application of artificial intelligence techniques. Where the volume of data can strain the distribution networks and the latency requirements can be high, novel strategies must be applied for the processing of said data locally or close to where it is produced. Where the ability to easily, quickly and securely interconnect platforms and systems represents a competitive advantage in a new data-driven economy. These problems, when tackled individually, offer interesting research and improvement scenarios, but when considered as a whole they reveal an even more interesting reality, where it becomes evident that the total of the parts is more than the sum of them, revealing relationships and synergies between architecture and interface designs, data modeling, security, and even the distribution and orchestration of tasks. This doctoral thesis explores these aspects in a holistic way, integrating existing technologies and standards in the design and construction of secure and interoperable data architectures for IoT, considering ontological data modeling and representation and exploring task distribution and orchestration between edge and the cloud. As a result of this work, three main contributions are presented, oriented to the exploration of interoperable and secure architectures, the distribution and orchestration of tasks between the edge and the cloud and finally on the representation of security and data privacy concepts in this new paradigm. These contributions offer various scenarios and test benches for them, demonstrating their relevance and value for the development and advancement of these technologies

Elaboración automática de datos fitosociológicos

26 páginas, 4 cuadros.Peer reviewe

Strategic alliances and new product development: the cases of Rover and Seat

The large influence of the automotive industry in the global economy is widely recognised. This sector has undergone enormous changes in order to be ready for the fierce competence of the next to come 21st century. Among theses transformations, the most relevant are those technologies developed for the rapid evolution of the activities linked to new designs, new products, and new manufacturing processes and systems, which aim to cope with the always innovative Japanese car makers. International technology alliances may be one option to gain access to the brand new competitive technologies. At the same time, the risks and costs associated with new product development are shared among the allies, as well as the manufacturing facilities and production capabilities. Sometimes, the agreement may even give place to the deployment of new capabilities. In spite of its many potentialities, the literature presents the success rate of alliances being below a 50 percent. Our study considers two examples of companies that developed international joint ventures (UVs), Rover with Honda, and Seat with Volkswagen, respectively. Since these two European peripheral companies, Rover and Seat, no longer remain as independent firms, we are interested on identifying the reasons leading to the success or failure of these UVs as regards the New Product Development (NPD) process. In spite of the fact that most of the literature characterises the strategic technology alliances as highly successful, new empirical evidences are questioning that consensus. In particular, some recent cases are bringing into the limelight the dangers associated to enter an UV when one of the partners is weaker than the other and it does not have a well defmed strategy. The weakest firm can become completely reliant on its associate, thus aggravating and accentuating its constraints. Our article addresses the question of possible dependencies along the NPD process in the Rover and Seat cases and looks for an answer to the question of how such type of addiction affects the survival of the firms

Strategic alliances, organisational learning and new product development: the cases of Rover and Seat

The importance of the automotive industry in the global economy is widely recognised. The sector has undergone enormous changes in order to prepare for the fierce competition of the 21st century. Among these transformations, the most relevant are those technologies developed for the rapid evolution of activities linked to new designs, new products, and new manufacturing processes and systems. Innovative Japanese carmakers have stimulated international performance comparisons in these activities. International technology alliances may be one way of gaining access to new competitive technologies. Risks and costs associated with new product development can be shared among the partners and more effective use can be made of manufacturing facilities and production capabilities. Sometimes, an alliance agreement may lead to the deployment of new capabilities. However, in spite of this potential, the literature presents the success rate of alliances at less than 50%. Our study considers two examples of companies that developed international joint ventures (IJVs): Rover with Honda, and Seat with Volkswagen. Since these two European peripheral companies, Rover and Seat, no longer remain as independent firms, we are interested in identifying the reasons leading to the success or failure of these IJVs as regards the New Product Development (NPD) process. In particular, in both cases the paper looks at the problems of the weaker partner becoming increasingly dependent on the other partner and the need for a well-defined strategy to benefit from IJVs.This research is partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Educación y Cultura, Dirección General de Enseñanza Superior (DGES) projects PB94-0372, PB97-0089, and PR95-583Publicad

Un análisis de los costes y beneficios de la privatización de Seat

La literatura sobre privatizaciones es básicamente teórica, de forma que el número de trabajos empíricos sobre sus resultados, especialmente el relativo al intercambio de recursos que generan, es muy reducido. Habida cuenta de los diferentes grupos y agentes con intereses diversos -y a menudo contrapuestos-que se generan en torno a estos procesos, parece interesante estudiar en qué medida y cuantía las privatizaciones afectarán a estos grupos. Comparar los beneficios y costes de estas decisiones públicas, en las que se comprometen recursos escasos, puede ser una vía sensata de actuación dentro del sector público. El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en evaluar los beneficios y costes derivados de la privatización de Seat, identificando los agentes ganadores y perdedores tras la adopción de dicha decisión. En la realización de la evaluación se han seguido muy de cerca las pautas metodológicas aplicadas por Galal y otros (1994) en lo referente al estudio de casos. En primer lugar se expone la metodología utilizada. El apartado siguiente se dedica al análisis de la evolución experimentada por el Beneficio, la Inversión Neta, la Rentabilidad y la Productividad de Seat tras la privatización, describiéndose en las siguientes secciones los efectos fiscales y sobre el Excedente del Consumidor. A continuación se compara la evolución de las variables mencionadas con las representativas de las empresas del sector, para, seguidamente, reconstruir el previsible comportamiento de Seat, bajo la hipótesis de que no hubiera sido privatizada, a fin de su comprobación con el efectivamente logrado. El artículo se cierra con las conclusiones más relevantes

La internacionalización de SEAT. De Zona Franca a Martorell pasando por Wolfsburg

Los fabricantes europeos de automóviles han tenido que hacer frente a enormes cambios a lo largo de las dos ultimas décadas. La innovación tecnológica, la globalización de los mercados, los cambios en la demanda de los clientes, la preocupación medioambiental, las fusiones y adquisiciones, las alianzas estratégicas, la certificación de proveedores, el comakership, etcetera, han sido moneda común en la industria europea del automóvil de los ochenta y noventa. La empresa estatal Seat carecía de los activos específicos, o distintivos, necesarios para competir con éxito en el escenario europeo. En este articulo analizamos si la privatización supuso para la empresa española una mejora de su posición competitiva, como miembro del grupo Volkswagen o si, por el contrario, la ha convertido en una mera ensambladora de los vehículos del grupo