2013 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation (ICE) & IEEE International Technology Management Conference

A high maturity in corporate problem solving is a competitive advantage. Companies seek to use the wisdom of the crowd they have internally. One approach is to enable the employees to publish a so-called Urgent Request. For a quick and high-quality response it is helpful to distribute such an Urgent Request either to a high number of employees (broadcasting) or to target the message to those emplo... View full abstract»

The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework of the influence of external forces on supply chain sustainability goals and decisions. The framework is grounded on systems theory, contingency theory and institutional theory. It will be used to study sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in the oil and gas (O&G) industry. The industry is facing intense pressur... View full abstract»

Creativity and innovation, fundamental elements upon which Kenya's economy is expected to grow, are embedded in Kenya Vision 2030, the country's blue print for economic growth and industrialisation. Though expected to play a role in this process, the production oriented informal sector employs a large number of semiskilled artisans that have little formal education. Calls for empowering and capaci... View full abstract»

An interesting phenomenon that has received limited attention in the literature is the concept of workaround practices in the field of IT and their use in organizations adopting ERP solutions. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of workaround strategy by examining the main reasons behind it. The “Echo” method was used to evaluate the comments that participants provided r... View full abstract»

This paper provides insight into the application of real options theory as it affects techno-economic investment decisions in global system for mobile communication (GSM) network ventures. Although the net present value (NPV) is most widely applied, however, there is growing awareness that this approach may underestimate the true economic value of such investments. The case study examples discusse... View full abstract»

In spite of growth in project management profession and publications, project success is not a common occurrence. Conventional approaches to improve project success are to consider project performance factors that would contribute project success and to aim for organization project management maturity. This research effort is aimed to examine linkages among project success, project performance fac... View full abstract»

Project management is based on gathering information regarding the current status of the project execution and comparing it with the original planning. Along the project execution, the planning needs to be reviewed and further reworked. However, the quality of the decisions taken for the generation of the new schedule will depend on the image that project managers have in their minds regarding the... View full abstract»

Inspection planning organizes quality inspections during the production process from incoming goods to delivery. As inspections assess the conformity of product characteristics with their specifications they have a significant influence on guaranteeing product quality and, thus, customer satisfaction. This paper analyses decision situations in inspection planning. The aim is to develop a model for... View full abstract»

Organizations have always been preoccupied with search of different mechanisms to effectively allocate their resources. Coordination theory has provided a variety of mechanisms to show organizational leaders how it can be done. Still, many mechanisms are strongly attached to the basic assumption of an organization with defined borders and hierarchical structure. In the times when borders of an org... View full abstract»

Due to the higher-level business trends, such as increasing globalization and outsourcing, the collaborative engineering gets more and more important. This increases the challenge for the suppliers to accomplish their customer processes optimally with minimal effort. Efficient data communication in all phases of the product development process is a prerequisite for lean and flexible collaboration ... View full abstract»

International policies to reduce global warming impact directly on territorial strategies concerning decision making on urban development projects. It is thus necessary for local authorities to adopt the best practices, and to take informed decisions in order to move towards more sustainable urban development projects. But today the challenge lies in the involvement of all the stakeholders in the ... View full abstract»

In this practice reflection paper I share hands-on experiences on innovation ecosystems. They have taught me that if we want innovation to be the core catalyst of value creation, we need an advanced set of tools, mechanisms and approaches to encourage horizontal cooperation and mass engagement in generation of innovative propositions that can turn into innovation. Even more, I stress that only mas... View full abstract»

Learning math may not sound interesting to most students. However, motivation is an essential factor to promote academic performance and learning satisfaction. Augmented reality technology combines virtual and real worlds and gives users interesting visual experiences. Since related research is still limited, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether AR helps improve math learning motiva... View full abstract»

Intangible assets are more difficult to imitate than tangible assets, so competitive advantages are less obtained from the allocation of tangible assets, and more from intangible assets according to resource-based view (RBV). Patents, one of intangible assets, are important for corporate performance. This study explores the influences of the three aspects of patent profile - R&D capability... View full abstract»

Many companies face today a dilemma of “double unknown” when deciding where to put their research dollars: ignorance of which one among many possible technologies is most likely to emerge and similar ignorance of which one among many possible applications will most likely be a driver for the technology. Generic technologies are widely recognized to be beneficial for various market applications ([B... View full abstract»

In many sectors offering durable goods the extension of the service business is often seen as a possible key element in the current competitive context. Integration of services with an eye on sustainability issues is another aim that is considered for the servitization process, according to the so-called Product Service Systems. Product Service Systems are then taken as a reference for this paper,... View full abstract»

Successful organizations anticipate the need to change. They do so with minimal effort and a focus on improving outcomes. This paper describes a systems-based approach by which organizations can become more adaptive and thus more agile, proactive, and innovative. The key idea is the alignment of vision and strategy, culture and beliefs, processes, plans, people, and desired outcomes. Such organiza... View full abstract»

Sustainability combines environmental, economic, and social dimensions and is considered to be a complex and hard to learn subject needing a lot of experience to create competence. This paper introduces a learning scenario created for a serious game to develop competences in the domain of sustainable manufacturing, by applying a Lifecycle Assessment (LCA). The scenario has been evaluated with 24 m... View full abstract»

In reference to the Innovation System theory of inter-connected and process oriented innovation, the Social Innovation System concept in our study is an inter-connection of things in developing, diffusing and utilizing innovation targeting social issues or needs. The growing popularity and support for Social Innovation, has triggered us to analyse the scholarly contributions with the aid Innovatio... View full abstract»

This study aimed to uncover the evolutionary processes behind the developments in the field of bioinformatics by analyzing prestigious conference presentations reflecting the prominent research in the field. Bioinformatics was selected as a representative interdisciplinary research field. Textual analyses on the abstracts of proceedings papers produced chronological networks of conference sessions... View full abstract»

Information technology (IT) selection, the process of choosing the best technology from a number of available options, is an important part of IT management. Decision makers (DMs) face several difficulties in the IT selection process, like making precise judgements about alternatives and criteria, reaching consensus with other DMs about their decision, and identifying the relative importance of in... View full abstract»

This research in progress paper elucidates the multidimensional phenomenon of autonomy which determines the success of teams developing a new business in small and medium-sized high-tech firms. In a previous inductive study we had revealed that this phenomenon is described through four autonomy dimensions: functional autonomy, decision autonomy, structural autonomy and strategic autonomy. In this ... View full abstract»

The focus of this paper is on living labs for health innovation. Health care (cure) systems are under pressure as a consequence of the ageing population and fast increasing population with chronic conditions, in a situation of decreasing financial budgets. At the same time, the valorization of health inventions is stumbled by many blocks. Living labs as an innovation tool, whether conceived as del... View full abstract»

How do technology-based entrepreneurs transform technological ideas into business opportunities? We explore how individual's self-regulatory focus and institutional forces influence in the opportunity construction process. This research addresses the apparent paradox between the exploration efforts of the entrepreneur to find a use for the technological idea, with the institutional pressure advanc... View full abstract»

The increased complexity in Product Service Systems development goes hand in hand with complex heterogeneous networks. A Human-Centred Design approach has been taken to understand such networked collaboration and to develop a framework having user-experiences guiding communication and collaboration among parties. The current work elaborates on the development of a framework for networked collabora... View full abstract»