The role of objects in creative collaborations

Objects matter when professionals collaborate to create new products. Chapter 1 explains the intention of this work, to apply theories on objects in the empirical context of fashion design. Chapter 2 addresses the question of how creative professionals learn about and use strategy tools to turn their artistic fame into a commercial success. For Chapter 3 I collected ethnographic data on the development of a seasonal collection from the idea to the presentation at Fashion Week. The result is a deep insight into the collaborative processes and material objects used when a stable team of designers works with several outside experts. Chapter 4 applies the knowledge of the role of objects in fashion design gained during the ethnography in the context of online co-creation and crowd sourced fashion items. The synthesis of the empirical studies allows me to present the conceptual leap in Chapter 5. In the theoretical essay I review the findings on the role of objects in collaborations in relation to practice theory, present the new concept of the comprehensive object and conclude by stating the possibilities for future research.

Algorithms and tools for in silico design of cell factories

PhD thesis in Bioengineering

In silico constraint-based strain optimization methods: the quest for optimal cell factories

Shifting from chemical to biotechnological processes is one of the cornerstones of 21st century industry. The production of a great range of chemicals via biotechnological means is a key challenge on the way toward a bio-based economy. However, this shift is occurring at a pace slower than initially expected. The development of efficient cell factories that allow for competitive production yields is of paramount importance for this leap to happen. Constraint-based models of metabolism, together with in silico strain design algorithms, promise to reveal insights into the best genetic design strategies, a step further toward achieving that goal. In this work, a thorough analysis of the main in silico constraint-based strain design strategies and algorithms is presented, their application in real-world case studies is analyzed, and a path for the future is discussed.

Financial intermediation in a model of growth through creative destruction

This paper presents an endogenous growth model in which the research activity is financed by intermediaries that are able to reduce the incidence of researcher's moral hazard. It is shown that financial activity is growth promoting because it increases research productivity. It is also found that a subsidy to the financial sector may have larger growth effects than a direct subsidy to research. Moreover, due to the presence of moral hazard, increasing the subsidy rate to R\&D may reduce the growth rate. I show that there exists a negative relation between the financing of innovation and the process of capital accumulation. Concerning welfare, the presence of two externalities of opposite sign steaming from financial activity may cause that the no-tax equilibrium provides an inefficient level of financial services. Thus, policies oriented to balance the effects of the two externalities will be welfare improving.

Gestión de productos de una empresa dedicada a la moda

Aquesta memòria ha estat realitzada per donar a conèixer el project que du per títol "Gestió de productes d'una empresa dedicada a la moda". Aquesta aplicació intentarà introduir en el mercat una solució per a les petites empreses que volen fer-se un lloc en el món de la moda i que necessiten un programari per poder gestionar les seves botigues. En aquest sector existeixen petits empresaris que van començar realitzant les peces de roba a les seves fàbriques i que han decidit fer petites col·leccions i posar-les a la venda al detall, a les seves propies franquícies. Aquesta aplicació mostra un mòdul d'un projecte molt més gran. El mòdul s'encarrega de la gestió dels articles creats a fàbrica, per poder distribuir-los entre les botigues. Un possible segon mòdul es dedicaria a la gestió de les vendes a les botigues.

Do creative industries cluster? mapping creative local production systems in Italy

An important debate on the role of creativity and culture as factors of local economic development is distinctly emerging. Despite the emphasis put on the theoretical definition of these concepts, it is necessary to strengthen comparative research for the identification and analysis of the kind of creativity embedded in the territory as well as its determinants. Creative local production systems are identified in Italy and Spain departing from local labour markets as territorial units, and focusing on two different kinds of creative

From creative ideas to new emerging ventures: the process of identification and exploitation among finnish design entrepreneurs

This study focuses on identification and exploitation processes among Finnish design entrepreneurs (i.e. selfemployed industrial designers). More specifically, this study strives to find out what design entrepreneurs do when they create new ventures, how venture ideas are identified and how entrepreneurial processes are organized to identify and exploit such venture ideas in the given industrial context. Indeed, what does educated and creative individuals do when they decide to create new ventures, where do the venture ideas originally come from, and moreover, how are venture ideas identified and developed into viable business concepts that are introduced on the markets? From an academic perspective: there is a need to increase our understanding of the interaction between the identification and exploitation of emerging ventures, in this and other empirical contexts. Rather than assuming that venture ideas are constant in time, this study examines how emerging ideas are adjusted to enable exploitation in dynamic market settings. It builds on the insights from previous entrepreneurship process research. The interpretations from the theoretical discussion build on the assumption that the subprocesses of identification and exploitation interact, and moreover, they are closely entwined with each other (e.g. McKelvie & Wiklund, 2004, Davidsson, 2005). This explanation challenges the common assumption that entrepreneurs would first identify venture ideas and then exploit them (e.g. Shane, 2003). The assumption is that exploitation influences identification, just as identification influences exploitation. Based on interviews with design entrepreneurs and external actors (e.g. potential customers, suppliers and collaborators), it appears as identification and exploitation of venture ideas are carried out in close interaction between a number of actors, rather than alone by entrepreneurs. Due to their available resources, design entrepreneurs have a desire to focus on identification related activities and to find external actors that take care of exploitation related activities. The involvement of external actors may have a direct impact on decisionmaking and various activities along the processes of identification and exploitation, which is something that previous research does not particularly emphasize. For instance, Bhave (1994) suggests both operative and strategic feedback from the market, but does not explain how external parties are actually involved in the decisionmaking, and in carrying out various activities along the entrepreneurial process.

Women at home, at school and in the factory. The particular discourse of domesticity done by the Spanish Escuela Economista (1861-1909)

The texts by the Spanish Economist School (second half of the 19th century) contain an assessment of the role of women in the economy and society that is transgressor in front of the prevailing discourse that defended a unique and exclusive role for all women: being at home and a mother. Most members of that economic trend defended female work in the factories, basing themselves on wage arguments and even asked for a professional training for those who in many cases could not even write and read for the fact of being a woman. The texts of those economists give new ideas about the economic and social role of women in a Spain dominated by a discourse that denied the necessity of female work for the working families.

Casolà o industrial?: estudi organolèptic i microbiològic de la vida útil del pernil cuit

Treball de recerca realitzat per un alumne d'ensenyament secundari i guardonat amb un Premi CIRIT per fomentar l'esperit científic del Jovent l'any 2009. Aquest treball tracta sobre el temps de garantia o de vida útil d’un producte alimentari i està basat en esbrinar quin és el millor mètode o envàs per conservar el pernil cuit llescat durant la seva vida útil, per tal que es mantinguin les propietats organolèptiques i microbiològiques inicials de l’aliment durant el màxim de temps possible. Per comparar envasos he utilitzat els industrials (envàs al buit i envàs en atmosfera) i els envasos que podem trobar quan comprem un producte llescat en el mostrador d’una botiga o supermercat. Per a fer l’estudi doncs s’ha utilitzat el pernil cuit, conegut com a pernil dolç, un dels productes més consumits per la societat actual. El pernil ha estat tractat en tres situacions diferents: llescat en una màquina de carnisseria i envasat en mètodes de conservació domèstics, llescat en màquines industrials i envasat en diferents envasos (al buit i en atmosfera modificada) utilitzats per les grans empreses i llescat en màquines industrials i envasat al buit sotmès a un tractament amb altes pressions. Després d’aquests processos s’ha realitzat un estudi de vida útil, és a dir, s’ha analitzat el producte al laboratori, amb l’objectiu de trobar quin és el millor envàs per a la conservació del pernil cuit.

Why do creative industries cluster? An analysis of the determinants of clustering of creative industries

Creative industries tend to concentrate mainly around large- and medium-sized cities, forming creative local production systems. The text analyses the forces behind clustering of creative industries to provide the first empirical explanation of the determinants of creative employment clustering following a multidisciplinary approach based on cultural and creative economics, evolutionary geography and urban economics. A comparative analysis has been performed for Italy and Spain. The results show different patterns of creative employment clustering in both countries. The small role of historical and cultural endowments, the size of the place, the average size of creative industries, the productive diversity and the concentration of human capital and creative class have been found as common factors of clustering in both countries.

Technological innovation in creative clusters. The case of laser in conservation of artworks in Florence

The field of laser application to the restoration and cleaning of cultural assets is amongst the most thriving developments of recent times. Ablative laser technological systems are able to clean and protect inestimable works of art subject to atmospheric agents and degradation over time. This new technology, which has been developing for the last forty year, is now available to restorers and has received a significant success all over Europe. An important contribution in the process of laser innovation has been carried out in Florence by local actors belonging to a creative cluster. The objects of the analysis are the genesis of this innovation in this local Florentine context, and the relationships among the main actors who have contributed in it. The study investigates how culture can play a part in the generation of ideas and innovations, and which are the creative environments that can favour it. In this context, the issue of laser technologies for the restoration of cultural heritage has been analysed as a case study in the various paths taken by the Creative Capacity of the Culture (CCC).

Pork Value Chains: A Comparison of Catalonia, Spain and Manitoba, Canada

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of pork value chains in Catalonia, Spain and Manitoba, Canada. Intensive hog production models were implemented in Catalonia in the 1960s as a result of agriculture crises and fostered by feedstuffs factories. The expansion of the hog sector in Manitoba is more recent (in the 1990s) and brought about in large part by the opening of the Maple Leaf Meats processing plant in Brandon, Manitoba. This plant is capable of processing 90,000 hogs per week. Both hog production models ‐ the ‘older’ one in Catalonia (Spain) and the ‘newer’ in Manitoba‐ have been, until recently, examples of success. Inventories and production have been increasing substantially and both regions have proven to have great export potential. Recently, however, tensions have been developing with the hog production models of both regions, particularly as they relate to environmental concerns. The purpose of the paper is to compare the value chains with respect to their origins (e.g. supply a growing demand for pork, ensure farm profitability) and present states (e.g. environmental concerns, profitability). Keywords: pork value chain, hog farms, agri‐food studies. JEL: Q10, Q13, O57

The role of transcription factories-mediated interchromosomal contacts in the organization of nuclear architecture.

Using numerical simulations, we investigate the underlying physical effects responsible for the overall organization of chromosomal territories in interphase nuclei. In particular, we address the following three questions: (i) why are chromosomal territories with relatively high transcriptional activity on average, closer to the centre of cell's nucleus than those with the lower activity? (ii) Why are actively transcribed genes usually located at the periphery of their chromosomal territories? (iii) Why are pair-wise contacts between active and inactive genes less frequent than those involving only active or only inactive genes? We show that transcription factories-mediated contacts between active genes belonging to different chromosomal territories are instrumental for all these features of nuclear organization to emerge spontaneously due to entropic effects arising when chromatin fibres are highly crowded.