A holistic approach to the management of human consumption towards an economics of well-being

The goal of this conceptual paper is to draw attention to the problems caused by the rapid growth of the global economy, coupled with high population growth and excessive exploitation of natural resources. It is necessary to be aware that the global economy will not be able to grow at the actual speed in the long term. A paradigm shift in production and consumption is therefore necessary to avoid the collapse of ecosystems and the concurrent reduction of stocks of natural resources. This is the reason why capitalism has to take a new direction towards a sustainable and naturally harmonized development model

BIM and Mixed Reality for the New Management of Storage Area

The fourth industrial revolution that has touched the last decades, has involved several sectors including the construction world. The digitization and automation of industrial processes has implemented the development of connection platforms that can communicate many information for different users such as Smart Glasses or immersive headset. Most of the time, innovation does not only concern the technological field, but involves the entire organizational and managerial sphere. Digitization allows new tools such as Building Information Modelling to expand its application scale, making it an excellent tool for integrating and sharing data with their own information management systems (MES). The aims of this contribution are reproducing a virtual warehouse through parametric digital modelling, to which all the management data have been associated; for example, the average stock, the rotation index, etc. Thanks to the export of the database extrapolated from its management system of the analyzed industry, it was possible to define the correct visualization of the virtual model, interrogating the real data coming from the real warehouse. Through Smart Glasses, the user of the area could allocate the products in the correct position and update in the cloud the information properties associated with the individual product and the entire department. The use of virtual platforms for the visualization and the sharing of the data, facilitate the optimization of the industrial processes

Complexity Theory for a New Managerial Paradigm: A Research Framework

In this work, we supply a theoretical framework of how organizations can embed complexity management and sustainable development into their policies and actions. The proposed framework may lead to a new management paradigm, attempting to link the main concepts of complexity theory, change management, knowledge management, sustainable development, and cybernetics. We highlight how the processes of organizational change have occurred as a result of the move to adapt to the changes in the various global and international business environments and how this transformation has led to the shift toward the present innovation economy. We also point how organizational change needs to deal with sustainability, so that the change may be consistent with present needs, without compromising the future

A Holistic Approach to Comprehending the Complexity of the Post-growth Era: The Emerging Profile

The goal of this study is to investigate the problems caused by the rapid growth of the global economy, coupled with high population growth and the excessive exploitation of natural resources. The global economy will not be able to maintain its current speed of growth in the long term, so a paradigm shift in production and consumption is necessary, if the collapse of ecosystems and the concurrent depletion of natural resources are to be avoided. This is the reason why capitalism needs to take a turn towards a sustainable and naturally harmonized development model

Smart Cities: Who is the Main Observer?

Abstract This paper is based on the paradigm that a smart city is a part of the intellectual framework of second-order cybernetics and considers social communication in terms of the management and use of different data channels. Planning as a political practice is replaced by environmentally-behavioral control, in which subjectivity is articulated above-individually (permeating the city with sensitive nodes) and infra-individually (transforming citizens into sensitive nodes). This leads us to the research question: how to focus on the social relations and processes of the smart urbanization which are based on the second order cybernetic approach? The smart city is understood as a complex mechanism, where one begins to realize the often-unintended human, environmental, social and economic consequences of a technological and engineering-led approach. The latest thinking and smart urban projects are aimed at comprehending smart and/or sustainable infrastructure as a network between places and people in order to create a more sustainable, healthy and resilient future for different groups of citizens (from young people to seniors). Municipality strategies need to address global socio-economic factors, processes of innovation with new technology, constant adaptation in public and private sector organisations and the diversity of qualified resources

Click and drive Consumer attitude to product development: Towards future transformations of the driving experience

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to supply indications that may be useful in the process of development of new products that fully exploit the value potential of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in the automotive industry. To this aim, the authors investigate how applications of the IoT to smart vehicles are perceived by consumers and describe different ways to increase their satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – After a literature review focused on IoT and consumer behaviour in the automotive industry, the authors apply the Kano model to find the drivers for achieving customer satisfaction with new product developments in smartcars. Findings – Automotive companies need to consider what is attractive to drivers and what consumers consider to be “driver-friendly”. Using an empirical analysis, the authors highlight the motivations for developing a smartcar to fits the expectation of Italian drivers. Research limitations/implications – While the global framework given by this paper can be useful in all contexts, the empirical part is based on the Italian consumer. Further research may extend the application of the model to other countries to improve the generalizability of the results. Practical implications – This study supplies an analysis of qualitative data that may prove useful to researchers and managers in planning their strategic and operative activities with the aim of improving the development of IoT-related products in the automotive industry. Originality/value – This paper fulfils the need for an original research framework that sheds light on relevant insights and gives useful hints on the development of IoT technologies in the automotive sector. Paper type Research pape

Monocyte induction of e-selectin-mediated endothelial activation releases VE-Cadherin junctions to promote tumor cell extravasation in the metastasis cascade

Tumor cells interact with blood constituents and these interactions promote metastasis. Selectins are vascular receptors facilitating interactions of tumor cells with platelets, leukocytes, and endothelium, but the role of endothelial E-selectin remains unclear. Here we show that E-selectin is a major receptor for monocyte recruitment to tumor cell-activated endothelium. Experimental and spontaneous lung metastasis using murine tumor cells, without E-selectin ligands, were attenuated in E-selectin-deficient mice. Tumor cell-derived CCL2 promoted endothelial activation, resulting in enhanced endothelial E-selectin expression. The recruitment of inflammatory monocytes to metastasizing tumor cells was dependent on the local endothelial activation and the presence of E-selectin. Monocytes promoted transendothelial migration of tumor cells through the induction of E-selectin-dependent endothelial retractions and a subsequent modulation of tight junctions through dephosphorylation of VE-cadherin. Thus, endothelial E-selectin shapes the tumor microenvironment through the recruitment, adhesion, and activation of monocytes that facilitate tumor cell extravasation and thereby metastasis. These findings provide evidence that endothelial E-selectin is a novel factor contributing to endothelial retraction required for efficient lung metastasis. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5302-12. ©2016 AACR