Transferring knowledge of manufacturing techniques within a subsidiary of a multi-national corporation

With the growth of the multi-national corporation (MNCs) has come the need to understand how parent companies transfer knowledge to, and manage the operations of, their subsidiaries. This is of particular interest to manufacturing companies transferring their operations overseas. Japanese companies in particular have been pioneering in the development of techniques such as Kaizen, and elements of the Toyota Production System (TPS) such as Kanban, which can be useful tools for transferring the ethos of Japanese manufacturing and maintaining quality and control in overseas subsidiaries. Much has been written about the process of transferring Japanese manufacturing techniques but much less is understood about how the subsidiaries themselves – which are required to make use of such techniques – actually acquire and incorporate them into their operations. This research therefore takes the perspective of the subsidiary in examining how knowledge of manufacturing techniques is transferred from the parent company within its surrounding (subsidiary). There is clearly a need to take a practice-based view to understanding how the local managers and operatives incorporate this knowledge into their working practices. A particularly relevant theme is how subsidiaries both replicate and adapt knowledge from parents and the circumstances in which replication or adaptation occurs. However, it is shown that there is a lack of research which takes an in-depth look at these processes from the perspective of the participants themselves. This is particularly important as much knowledge literature argues that knowledge is best viewed as enacted and learned in practice – and therefore transferred in person – rather than by the transfer of abstract and de-contextualised information. What is needed, therefore, is further research which makes an in-depth examination of what happens at the subsidiary level for this transfer process to occur. There is clearly a need to take a practice-based view to understanding how the local managers and operatives incorporate knowledge about manufacturing techniques into their working practices. In depth qualitative research was, therefore, conducted in the subsidiary of a Japanese multinational, Gambatte Corporation, involving three main manufacturing initiatives (or philosophies), namely 'TPS‘, 'TPM‘ and 'TS‘. The case data were derived from 52 in-depth interviews with project members, moderate-participant observations, and documentations and presented and analysed in episodes format. This study contributes to our understanding of knowledge transfer in relation to the approaches and circumstances of adaptation and replication of knowledge within the subsidiary, how the whole process is developed, and also how 'innovation‘ takes place. This study further understood that the process of knowledge transfer could be explained as a process of Reciprocal Provider-Learner Exchange that can be linked to the Experiential Learning Theory.

The multinational enterprise as a source of international knowledge flows:Direct evidence from Italy

This paper examines the determinants of technology transfer between parent firms and their international affiliates, and of knowledge spillovers from those affiliates to host-country firms. Using a unique data set of foreign multinational enterprise (MNE) affiliates based in Italy, we find that affiliate investment in R&D and investment in capital-embodied technology plays a significant role in determining the nature of intra-firm technology flows. However, the basis for any spillovers arising from MNE affiliates does not originate from codified knowledge associated with R&D, but rather from the productivity of the affiliate.

Designing multiple user perspectives and functionality for clinical decision support systems

Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSSs) need to disseminate expertise in formats that suit different end users and with functionality tuned to the context of assessment. This paper reports research into a method for designing and implementing knowledge structures that facilitate the required flexibility. A psychological model of expertise is represented using a series of formally specified and linked XML trees that capture increasing elements of the model, starting with hierarchical structuring, incorporating reasoning with uncertainty, and ending with delivering the final CDSS. The method was applied to the Galatean Risk and Safety Tool, GRiST, which is a web-based clinical decision support system (www.egrist.org) for assessing mental-health risks. Results of its clinical implementation demonstrate that the method can produce a system that is able to deliver expertise targetted and formatted for specific patient groups, different clinical disciplines, and alternative assessment settings. The approach may be useful for developing other real-world systems using human expertise and is currently being applied to a logistics domain. © 2013 Polish Information Processing Society.

Speech and non-speech stimuli in the prediction of early reading skills:the influence of processing demands and response-type

Purpose: Both phonological (speech) and auditory (non-speech) stimuli have been shown to predict early reading skills. However, previous studies have failed to control for the level of processing required by tasks administered across the two levels of stimuli. For example, phonological tasks typically tap explicit awareness e.g., phoneme deletion, while auditory tasks usually measure implicit awareness e.g., frequency discrimination. Therefore, the stronger predictive power of speech tasks may be due to their higher processing demands, rather than the nature of the stimuli. Method: The present study uses novel tasks that control for level of processing (isolation, repetition and deletion) across speech (phonemes and nonwords) and non-speech (tones) stimuli. 800 beginning readers at the onset of literacy tuition (mean age 4 years and 7 months) were assessed on the above tasks as well as word reading and letter-knowledge in the first part of a three time-point longitudinal study. Results: Time 1 results reveal a significantly higher association between letter-sound knowledge and all of the speech compared to non-speech tasks. Performance was better for phoneme than tone stimuli, and worse for deletion than isolation and repetition across all stimuli. Conclusions: Results are consistent with phonological accounts of reading and suggest that level of processing required by the task is less important than stimuli type in predicting the earliest stage of reading.

Mere equities and third parties in leasehold law

Examines the concept of a "mere equity" in the context of the Land Registration Act 2002 s.116(b). Considers, by reference to case law, the nature and status of a mere equity and equities coming within the category of equitable rights binding third parties, including a landlord's right to rectification of a lease, the right to set aside a lease and a tenant's right to relief against forfeiture of a lease. Comments on the extent to which s.116(b) requires a mere equity to be more than just procedural and to be an equitable proprietary right capable of binding successors in title.

Making memories available:a framework for preserving rural heritage through community knowledge management (cKM)

While most of the research in Knowledge Management (KM) has focused on business communities, there is a breadth of potential applications of KM theory and practice to wider society. This paper explores the potential of KM for rural communities, specifically for those that want to preserve their social history and collective memories (what we call heritage) to enrich the lives of others. In KM terms, this is a task of accumulating and recording knowledge (using KM techniques such as story-telling and communities of practice) to enable its retention for future use (by interested people perhaps through KM systems). We report a case study of Cardrona, a valley of approximately 120 people in New Zealand's South Island. Realising that time would erode knowledge of their community a small, motivated group of residents initiated a KM programme to create a legacy for a wider community including younger generations, tourists and scholars. This paper applies KM principles to rural communities that want to harness their collective knowledge for wider societal gain, and develops a community-based framework to inform such initiatives. As a result, we call for a wider conceptualisation of KM to include motives for managing knowledge beyond business performance to accommodate community (cKM). © 2010 Operational Research Society.

Utilising Intranet technologies in construction sector SMEs:building up knowledge bases for extreme weather event risk management

Intranet technologies accessible through a web based platform are used to share and build knowledge bases in many industries. Previous research suggests that intranets are capable of providing a useful means to share, collaborate and transact information within an organization. To compete and survive successfully, business organisations are required to effectively manage various risks affecting their businesses. In the construction industry too this is increasingly becoming an important element in business planning. The ability of businesses, especially of SMEs which represent a significant portion in most economies, to manage various risks is often hindered by fragmented knowledge across a large number of businesses. As a solution, this paper argues that Intranet technologies can be used as an effective means of building and sharing knowledge and building up effective knowledge bases for risk management in SMEs, by specifically considering the risks of extreme weather events. The paper discusses and evaluates relevant literature in this regard and identifies the potential for further research to explore this concept.

Using patient knowledge for better health systems

Purpose – This paper describes a “work in progress” research project being carried out with a public health care provider in the UK, a large NHS hospital Trust. Enhanced engagement with patients is one of the Trust’s core principles, but it is recognised that much more needs to be done to achieve this, and that ICT systems may be able to provide some support. The project is intended to find ways to better capture and evaluate the “voice of the patient” in order to lead to improvements in health care quality, safety and effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – We propose to investigate the use of a patient-orientated knowledge management system (KMS) in managing knowledge about and from patients. The study is a mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) investigation based on traditional action research, intended to answer the following three research questions: (1) How can a KMS be used as a mechanism to capture and evaluate patient experiences to provoke patient service change (2) How can the KMS assist in providing a mechanism for systematising patient engagement? (3) How can patient feedback be used to stimulate improvements in care, quality and safety? Originality/value –This methodology aims to involve patients at all phases of the study from its initial design onwards, thus leading to an understanding of the issues associated with using a KMS to manage knowledge about and for patients that is driven by the patients themselves. Practical implications – The outcomes of the project for the collaborating hospital will be firstly, a system for capturing and evaluating knowledge about and from patients, and then as a consequence, improved outcomes for both the patients and the service provider. More generally, it will produce a set of guidelines for managing patient knowledge in an NHS hospital that have been tested in one case example.

Advances in characterisation, calibration and data processing speed of optical coherence tomography systems

This thesis describes advances in the characterisation, calibration and data processing of optical coherence tomography (OCT) systems. Femtosecond (fs) laser inscription was used for producing OCT-phantoms. Transparent materials are generally inert to infra-red radiations, but with fs lasers material modification occurs via non-linear processes when the highly focused light source interacts with the materials. This modification is confined to the focal volume and is highly reproducible. In order to select the best inscription parameters, combination of different inscription parameters were tested, using three fs laser systems, with different operating properties, on a variety of materials. This facilitated the understanding of the key characteristics of the produced structures with the aim of producing viable OCT-phantoms. Finally, OCT-phantoms were successfully designed and fabricated in fused silica. The use of these phantoms to characterise many properties (resolution, distortion, sensitivity decay, scan linearity) of an OCT system was demonstrated. Quantitative methods were developed to support the characterisation of an OCT system collecting images from phantoms and also to improve the quality of the OCT images. Characterisation methods include the measurement of the spatially variant resolution (point spread function (PSF) and modulation transfer function (MTF)), sensitivity and distortion. Processing of OCT data is a computer intensive process. Standard central processing unit (CPU) based processing might take several minutes to a few hours to process acquired data, thus data processing is a significant bottleneck. An alternative choice is to use expensive hardware-based processing such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). However, recently graphics processing unit (GPU) based data processing methods have been developed to minimize this data processing and rendering time. These processing techniques include standard-processing methods which includes a set of algorithms to process the raw data (interference) obtained by the detector and generate A-scans. The work presented here describes accelerated data processing and post processing techniques for OCT systems. The GPU based processing developed, during the PhD, was later implemented into a custom built Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) system. This system currently processes and renders data in real time. Processing throughput of this system is currently limited by the camera capture rate. OCTphantoms have been heavily used for the qualitative characterization and adjustment/ fine tuning of the operating conditions of OCT system. Currently, investigations are under way to characterize OCT systems using our phantoms. The work presented in this thesis demonstrate several novel techniques of fabricating OCT-phantoms and accelerating OCT data processing using GPUs. In the process of developing phantoms and quantitative methods, a thorough understanding and practical knowledge of OCT and fs laser processing systems was developed. This understanding leads to several novel pieces of research that are not only relevant to OCT but have broader importance. For example, extensive understanding of the properties of fs inscribed structures will be useful in other photonic application such as making of phase mask, wave guides and microfluidic channels. Acceleration of data processing with GPUs is also useful in other fields.

Pathway to clozapine use:a comparison between a patient cohort from New Zealand and a cohort from the United Kingdom

Background and Objective: Clozapine has been available since the early 1990s. Studies continue to demonstrate its superior efficacy in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Despite this, numerous studies show under-utilisation, delayed access and reluctance by psychiatrists to prescribe clozapine. This retrospective cross-sectional study compared the prescribing of clozapine in two adult cohorts under the care of large public mental health services in Auckland (New Zealand) and Birmingham (United Kingdom) on 31 March 2007. Method: Time from first presentation to clozapine initiation, prior antipsychotics trialled and antipsychotic co-prescribing were compared. Data included demographics, psychiatric diagnosis, co-morbid conditions, year of first presentation, admissions and pharmacological treatment (clozapine dose, start date, prior antipsychotics, co-prescribed antipsychotic). Results: Overall, 664 people were prescribed clozapine (402 Auckland; 262 Birmingham); mean daily dose of 384 mg (Auckland) and 429 mg (Birmingham). 53 % presented after 1990 and the average duration of time before starting clozapine was significantly longer in the Birmingham cohort (6.5 vs. 5.3 years) but this reduced in both cohorts to a 1-year mean in those presenting within the last 3 years. The average number of antipsychotics trialled pre-clozapine for those presenting since 1990 was significantly higher in the Birmingham cohort (4.3 vs. 3.1) but in both cohorts this similarly reduced in those presenting within the last 3 years. Antipsychotic co-prescribing was significantly higher in the Birmingham cohort (22.9 vs. 10.7 %). Conclusions: There is evidence that access to clozapine has improved over time in both cohorts, with a reduction in the duration between presentation and initiation of clozapine and number of different antipsychotics trialled pre-clozapine. These are very positive findings in terms of optimising outcomes with clozapine and are possibly due to the impact of guideline recommendations, increasing clinician, consumer and carer knowledge, and experience with clozapine and funding changes. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.

Active Monitoring and Decision Making Problem

Active monitoring and problem of non-stable of sound signal parameters in the regime of piling up response signal of environment is under consideration. Math model of testing object by set of weak stationary dynamic actions is offered. The response of structures to the set of signals is under processing for getting important information about object condition in high frequency band. Making decision procedure by using researcher’s heuristic and aprioristic knowledge is discussed as well. As an example the result of numerical solution is given.

How does knowledge relate to political action?

In this paper we investigate the relation between knowledge and political action, focusing on knowledge claims stemming from science that at the same time have relevance in a policy context. In so doing, we will revisit some well-known and some lesser known approaches, such as C.P. Snow's thesis of the two cultures and Mannheim's conceptualization of theory and practice. We arrive at a distinction between knowledge for practice and practical knowledge, which we briefly apply to the case of climate change science and policy. We state as our thesis that policy is ever more reliant on knowledge, but science can deliver ever less certainty. Political decisions and programs have to recognize this fact, either implicitly or explicitly. This creates a paradox that is normally resolved through the political decision and not the dissemination of "truth" in the sense of uncontested knowledge. We use the case of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as an example. © 2012 Copyright ICCR Foundation.

Reshoring:opportunities and limits for manufacturing in the UK - the case of the auto sector

In recent years, offshoring and outsourcing have transformed fundamentally nationally based auto sectors into global networks of design, production and distribution across the global value chains coordinated by the major automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). As manufacturing activities tended to be shifted to low-labour cost locations in Asia, Africa and Latin America, high-end design, R&D, product development have stayed anchored mostly to high-cost and high knowledge-intensive home economy locations (perhaps with the except of some design and styling activities which are often located in major end markets around the world. However, very recently the weaknesses of and risks inherent in such global value chains (GVCs) have been exposed, triggering attempts to rethink their nature and also raising possibilities to reshore some manufacturing activities to home countries. A combination of a more competitive exchange rate (despite the very recent appreciation of sterling), increased transport costs, rising wages in key areas of China, and a greater awareness of supply chain resilience have all contributed to a perceived change in some business fundamentals. The potential for some supply chain relocalisation also links in with the servitisation of manufacturing including the auto sector and shift to a hybrid model where manufacturing and services are increasingly intertwined. However, there are limits as to how far this can go and these raise some important questions and issues over the possible role for industrial policy.

Static, dynamic, and adaptive heterogeneity in distributed smart camera networks

We study heterogeneity among nodes in self-organizing smart camera networks, which use strategies based on social and economic knowledge to target communication activity efficiently. We compare homogeneous configurations, when cameras use the same strategy, with heterogeneous configurations, when cameras use different strategies. Our first contribution is to establish that static heterogeneity leads to new outcomes that are more efficient than those possible with homogeneity. Next, two forms of dynamic heterogeneity are investigated: nonadaptive mixed strategies and adaptive strategies, which learn online. Our second contribution is to show that mixed strategies offer Pareto efficiency consistently comparable with the most efficient static heterogeneous configurations. Since the particular configuration required for high Pareto efficiency in a scenario will not be known in advance, our third contribution is to show how decentralized online learning can lead to more efficient outcomes than the homogeneous case. In some cases, outcomes from online learning were more efficient than all other evaluated configuration types. Our fourth contribution is to show that online learning typically leads to outcomes more evenly spread over the objective space. Our results provide insight into the relationship between static, dynamic, and adaptive heterogeneity, suggesting that all have a key role in achieving efficient self-organization.

Knowledge processes in virtual teams:consolidating the evidence

This article takes stock of the current state of research on knowledge processes in virtual teams (VTs) and consolidates the extent research findings. Virtual teams, on the one hand, constitute important organisational entities that facilitate the integration of diverse and distributed knowledge resources. On the other hand, collaborating in a virtual environment creates particular challenges for the knowledge processes. The article seeks to consolidate the diverse evidence on knowledge processes in VTs with a specific focus on identifying the factors that influence the effectiveness of these knowledge processes. The article draws on the four basic knowledge processes outlined by Alavi and Leidner (2001) (i.e. creation, transferring, storage/retrieval and application) to frame the investigation and discuss the extent research. The consolidation of the existing research findings allows us to recognise the gaps in the understanding of knowledge processes in VTs and identify the important avenues for future research.