An Integrated Approach to Strategic Asset Management

This paper focuses on identifying and analysing the elements of Strategic Management for infrastructure and engineering assets. These elements are contended to involve an understanding of governance, corporate policy, corporate objectives, corporate strategy and interagency collaboration and will in turn, allow the ability determine a broader and more comprehensive framework for engineering asset management, ie a ‘staged approach’ to understanding how assets are managed within organisations. While the assets themselves have often been the sole concern for good management practices, other social and contextual elements have come into the mix in order to promote strategic asset management. The development of an integrated approach to asset management is at the base of the research question. What are the considerations and implications for adopting and implementing an integrated strategic asset management (ISAM) framework? While operational matters have been given prominence, a subset of corporate governance, Asset Governance, details the policies and processes needed to acquire, utilise, maintain and account for an organisation’s assets. Asset governance stems from the organisation’s overarching corporate governance principles; as a result it defines the management context in which engineering asset management is implemented. This aspect will be examined to determine the appropriate relationship between organisational strategic management and strategic asset management to further the theoretical engagement with the maturity of strategy,policy and governance for infrastructure and engineered assets. Asset governance stems from the organisation’s overarching corporate governance principles; as a result it defines the management context in which engineering asset management is implemented. The research proceeds by a document analysis of corporate reports and policy recommendations in terms of infrastructure and engineered assets. The paper concludes that incorporating an integrated asset management framework can promote a more robust conceptualisation of public assets and how they combine to provide a comprehensive system of service outcomes.

SERVICE NEEDS FORECASTING: An Approach for the Motor Industry Using Analogies with Medical ER Management Models.

During the past years, the industry has shifted position and moved towards “the luxury universe” whose customers are demanding, treating individuals as unique and valued customer for the business, offering vehicles produced with the state of the art technologies and implementing the highest finishing standards. Due to the competitive level in the market, motor makers enable processes which equalizes customer services to E.R. management, being dealt with the maximum urgency that allows the comparison between both, car workshops and emergency rooms, where workshop bays or ramps will be equal to emergency boxes and skilled technicians are equivalent to the health care specialist, who will carry out tests and checks prior to afford any final operation, keeping the “patient” under control before it is back to normal utilization. This paper ratify a valid model for the automotive industry to estimate customer service demand forecasting under variable demand conditions using analogies with patient demand models used for the medical ER

Rapid prototyping for biomedical engineering: current capabilities and Challenges

A new set of manufacturing technologies has emerged in the past decades to address market requirements in a customized way and to provide support for research tasks that require prototypes. These new techniques and technologies are usually referred to as rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies, and they allow prototypes to be produced in a wide range of materials with remarkable precision in a couple of hours. Although they have been rapidly incorporated into product development methodologies, they are still under development, and their applications in bioengineering are continuously evolving. Rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies can be of assistance in every stage of the development process of novel biodevices, to address various problems that can arise in the devices' interactions with biological systems and the fact that the design decisions must be tested carefully. This review focuses on the main fields of application for rapid prototyping in biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as on the most remarkable challenges and research trends.

Maintenance management model for industrial Smes

This paper presents the design and results of the implementation of a model for the evaluation and improvement of maintenance management in industrial SMEs. A thorough review of the state of the art on maintenance management was conducted to determine the model variables; to characterize industrial SMEs, a questionnaire was developed with Likert variables collected in the previous step. Once validated the questionnaire, we applied the same to a group of seventy-five (75) SMEs in the industrial sector, located in Bolivar State, Venezuela. To identify the most relevant variables maintenance management, we used exploratory factor analysis technique applied to the data collected. The score obtained for all the companies evaluated (57% compliance), highlights the weakness of maintenance management in industrial SMEs, particularly in the areas of planning and continuous improvement; most SMEs are evaluated in corrective maintenance stage, and its performance standard only response to the occurrence of faults.

International for-profit investiments in microfinance institutions equity

In recent years international investors are increasing the focus on the social consequences of their investments along with its financial returns. The microfinance sector, considered as an asset class is a relatively young concept but the microfinance industry is experiencing a tremendous growth and has a high potential for the future. Today most social responsible investments in microfinance are performed through loans or fixed income structured finance vehicles. The possibilities to invest in the equity tranche of the industry are still scarce since the number of listed microfinance institutions is reduced and the private equity investments are limited and difficult to reach for the majority of investors. In this document we present a study on the characteristics of the MFIs and we try to shed some light on this subsector of the equity assets universe that may become important in the coming future. Keywords: Microfinance institutions, Micro-credits, Financial Institutions, Equity; Stock Exchange

Integration of cooperation for development in Survey Engineering curricula at the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) framework

Survey Engineering curricula involves the integration of many formal disciplines at a high level of proficiency. The Escuela de Ingenieros en Topografía, Cartografía y Geodesia at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Survey Engineering) has developed an intense and deep teaching on so-called Applied Land Sciences and Technologies or Land Engineering. However, new approaches are encouraged by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This fact requires a review of traditional teaching and methods. Furthermore, the new globalization and international approach gives new ways to this discipline to teach and learn about how to bridge gap between cultures and regions. This work is based in two main needs. On one hand, it is based on integration of basic knowledge and disciplines involved in typical Survey Engineering within Land Management. On the other, there is an urgent need to consider territory on a social and ethical basis, as far as a part of the society, culture, idiosyncrasy or economy. The integration of appropriate knowledge of the Land Management is typically dominated by civil engineers and urban planners. It would be very possible to integrate Survey Engineering and Cooperation for Development in the framework of Land Management disciplines. Cooperation for Development is a concept that has changed since beginning of its use until now. Development projects leave an impact on society in response to their beneficiaries and are directed towards self-sustainability. Furthermore, it is the true bridge to reduce gap between societies when differences are immeasurable. The concept of development has also been changing and nowadays it is not a purely economic concept. Education, science and technology are increasingly taking a larger role in what is meant by development. Moreover, it is commonly accepted that Universities should transfer knowledge to society, and the transfer of knowledge should be open to countries most in need for developing. If the importance of the country development is given by education, science and technology, knowledge transfer would be one of the most clear of ways of Cooperation for Development. Therefore, university cooperation is one of the most powerful tools to achieve it, placing universities as agents of development. In Spain, the role of universities as agents of development and cooperation has been largely strengthened. All about this work deals to how to implement both Cooperation for Development and Land Management within Survey Engineering at the EHEA framework.

Analysis of the essential literature on project management in Spanish

The advancement of science and engineering projects is brewing major changes in the various phases of a project. These changes have produced more rigorous aspects of project management that tracks the research fronts of engineering and project management becomes key. However, research in engineering and project management in Spanish is hindered by access to information to enable the person concerned to ascertain the most recent and current research, limiting the exchange of information and strengthening research networks in this field interest with great implications in business, industry and scientific issues. Therefore, the article aims to present the state of the art of engineering research and project management in Spanish, using the analysis of scientific domains and network analysis of the research literature to identify and analyze relationships between authors and documents that establish the base and research fronts topic under study. The results also provide statistics on the contribution of international research in Spanish and scientific collaboration networks.

A Valuation of SAREB, the Spanish “Bad Bank”, Upside Using the Real Options Methodology

This paper develops a model to analyze the upside potential of profitability of the SAREB (“Asset Management Company for Assets Arising from Bank Restructuring”), the Spanish “Bad Bank”. The model is based in the Real Options methodology, that is especially adequate due to the convergence of two elements, (i) depreciated assets with a high upside potential, and (ii) a highly volatile market as it has shown to be the real estate Spanish market. Our results suggest that the SAREB has a higher than expected profitability potentialthat would be dedicated to increase the return to its shareholders, mainly private banks. Consequently we also show that after the financial crisis are emerging two types of banks in Spain, in one hand the losers who are transferring their real estate assets at a deep discount, and in the other hand the winners, capturing the upside potential of those assets as shareholders of SAREB, and consequently consolidating their strength in the Spanish Real Estate Industry. It is worth to mention that Governments should make an effort in properly redistribute the wealth generated by the real Estate industry.

Empresas tecnológicas creadas en España entre los años 2000 y 2010: perfil del emprendedor e importancia de la ayuda pública en su desarrollo

Este trabajo pretende contribuir al conocimiento de las nuevas empresas de base tecnológica (NEBT) creadas en España analizando aspectos relativos a su distribución geográfica, sectorial, tamaño, estructura financiera, protección de resultados, participación en programas de I+D o perfil de sus emprendedores. Para ello lleva a cabo un estudio descriptivo de las empresas que recibieron ayudas de la iniciativa Neotec concedidas por el Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) a este tipo de compañías entre los años 2000 y 2010. Por otro lado, analiza el perfil de los emprendedores tecnológicos que han creado empresas en España en la última década

An extended approach for service innovation study: an empirical research

Initially, service sector was defined as complementary to manufacturing sector. This situation has changed in recent times; services growth has resulted in a dominance of employment and economic activity in most developed nations and is becoming a key process for the competitiveness of their industrial sectors. New services related to commodities have become a strategy to differentiate their value proposition (Robinson et al., 2002). The service sector's importance is evident when evaluating its share in the gross domestic product. According to the World Bank (2011), in 2009, 74.8% of GDP in the euro area and 77.5% in United States were attributed to services. Globalization and use of information and communication technology has accelerated dissemination of knowledge and increasing customer expectations about services available worldwide. Innovation becomes essential to ensure that service organizations respond with appropriate products and services for each market segment. Customized and placed on time-tomarket new services require a more developed innovation process. Service innovation and new service development process are cited as one of the priorities for academic research in the following years (Karniouchina et al., 2005) This paper has the following objectives: -To present a model for the analysis of innovation process through the service value network, -To verify its applicability through an empirical research, and -To identify the path and mode of innovation for a group of studied organizations and to compare it with previous studies.

Empresas tecnológicas creadas en España entre los años 2000 y 2010: perfil del emprendedor e importancia de la ayuda pública en su desarrollo

Este trabajo pretende contribuir al conocimiento de las NEBT a través de un doble objetivo. Por un lado, llevar a cabo un análisis descriptivo de los resultados de las ayudas concedidas por el Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) a este colectivo de empresas en los últimos nueve años a través de la Iniciativa Neotec, lo que permitirá comprender mejor la adicionalidad de este tipo de actuaciones públicas y su impacto en la creación de NEBT. Por otro lado, caracterizar el perfil de los emprendedores tecnológicos en España con la finalidad de incrementar el conocimiento de este colectivo y promover su aparición. Para finalizar se ofrecen las principales conclusiones y se realizan algunas recomendaciones para el apoyo a este tipo de empresas.

Fenómeno de internacionalización temprana en empresas creadas en entornos universitarios

Hasta finales del siglo XX ha sido incuestionable la vigencia del modelo de internacionalización de empresas conocido como ?Modelo Gradual? o ?Modelo de Uppsala? (Johanson y Vahlne, 1977). Este modelo se caracteriza fundamentalmente por considerar que las empresas comienzan asentándose en sus mercados de origen, en donde van adquiriendo experiencia y conocimiento y van adueñándose de recursos que les permitan internacionalizarse gradualmente en el futuro, comenzando por países cercanos y con similitudes al país de origen. Estas similitudes se miden fundamentalmente en factores demográficos, sociológicos y culturales (Johanson y Vahlne, 1977). Según este modelo, las empresas intentan minimizar al máximo la probabilidad de fracaso de su proceso de internacionalización (Autio y Sapienza, 2000).

Estudio sobre patrones de competitividad en las empresas de alto crecimiento del sector TIC español

La situación económica actual, especialmente en las principales economías desarrolladas de Europa y América, está marcada por los bajos, o incluso negativos, niveles de crecimiento económico de la mayor parte de las naciones, y los elevados niveles de desempleo. Por este motivo, se hace urgente identificar nuevas fórmulas de desarrollo que permitan contribuir al crecimiento económico y a la generación de empleo. El caso español es un claro ejemplo de esta situación. Sus tasas de crecimiento han pasado del 4% en los años 2007-2010, a tasas negativas del 5% en 2009.

Propuesta de un modelo y factores determinantes de la fragmentación internacional de la producción en el sector automóvil de España

Una de los rasgos más característicos de la presente globalización es el desarrollo de la fragmentación de la producción, siendo esta, la división del proceso productivo en diferentes localizaciones a lo largo de varios países. Debido a la globalización de los mercados, al surgimiento de nuevas zonas económicas (Zona Euro, Nafta, Mercosur, etc.), a los países emergentes (China, India, Rusia, Brasil), a la reducción de los costes del transporte internacional y al desarrollo de las comunicaciones, ha provocado el incremento del comercio internacional en bienes intermedios, así como el diseño, fabricación y ensamblaje de un producto en diferentes localizaciones a lo largo de varios países. El incremento de la fragmentación en el comercio internacional ha creado un interés por saber cuales son los factores determinantes de la misma en bienes intermedios. El indicador IITV es el utilizado para medir la fragmentación de la producción entre España y sus 19 principales socios comerciales y varios factores sugeridos por la literatura en fragmentación son utilizados en un rango de años desde el año 2004 al año 2008. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la gran mayoría del comercio en bienes intermedios es IITV y los factores determinantes de la fragmentación de la producción en el sector del automóvil en España, son el tamaño del mercado, la pertenencia a UE, la distancia y el coeficiente de libre comercio.

Propuesta de un Modelo para la Gestión de los Neumáticos de Una flota de Vehículos

En la gestión de los neumáticos de una flota de vehículos el mejor ratio para ello es el coste del neumático dividido por las Horas o Km. realizados por el neumático, pero existen flotas de vehículos que por sus características de uso no se puede realizar un seguimiento de las horas o Km. que realiza el neumático en su vida útil ya que son vehículos que son utilizados por un gran número de conductores en diferentes turnos al día. Este tipo de flotas suelen operar en entornos urbanos y son: Vehículos destinados a la limpieza viaria, recogida de basuras, mantenimiento de jardines, Policía, Guardia Civil, Bomberos etc. así también en menor medida flotas de empresas, renting de vehículos, alquiler de vehículos etc. por ello se propone un modelo de gestión de neumáticos para una flota de vehículos en los que no se puede hacer un seguimiento de las horas o kilómetros realizados por el neumático en su uso.