New high technology product development: The case of light emitting diodes

New high technology products usher in novel possibilities to transform the design, production and use of buildings. The high technology companies which design, develop and introduce these new products by generating and applying novel scientific and technical knowledge are faced with significant market uncertainty, technological uncertainty and competitive volatility. These characteristics present unique innovation challenges compared to low- and medium technology companies. This paper reports on an ongoing Construction Knowledge Exchange funded project which is tracking, real time, the new product development process of a new family of light emitting diode (LEDs) technologies. LEDs offer significant functional and environmental performance improvements over incumbent tungsten and halogen lamps. Hitherto, the use of energy efficient, low maintenance LEDs has been constrained by technical limitations. Rapid improvements in basic science and technology mean that for the first time LEDs can provide realistic general and accent lighting solutions. Interim results will be presented on the complex, emergent new high technology product development processes which are being revealed by the integrated supply chain of a LED module manufacture, a luminaire (light fitting) manufacture and end user involved in the project.

The influence of context upon consumer sensory evaluation of chicken-meat quality

There is an apparent lack of research investigating how different test conditions influence or bias consumer sensory evaluation of food. The aim of the present pilot study was to determine if testing conditions had any effect on responses of an untrained panel to a novel chicken product. Assessments of flavour, texture and overall liking of corn-fed chicken were made across three different testing conditions (laboratory-based under normal lighting; laboratory-based under controlled lighting; and, home testing). Least favourable evaluations occurred under laboratory-based conditions irrespective of what lighting was used. Consumers perceived the product more favourably in terms of flavour (p < 0.001), texture (p < 0.001) and overall preference (p < 0.001) when evaluated in the familiar setting of the home. Home testing produced more consistent assessments than under either of the two laboratory-based test conditions. The results imply that home evaluation should be undertaken routinely in new food product development.

Rationality of service composition of Workflow Net in a service oriented architecture

Users’ requirements change drives an information system evolution. Consequently, such evolution affects those atomic services which provide functional operations from one state of their composition to another state of composition. A challenging issue associated with such evolution of the state of service composition is to ensure a resultant service composition remaining rational. This paper presents a method of Service Composition Atomic-Operation Set (SCAOS). SCAOS defines 2 classes of atomic operations and 13 kinds of basic service compositions to aid a state change process by using Workflow Net. The workflow net has algorithmic capabilities to compose the required services with rationality and maintain any changes to the services in a different composition also rational. This method can improve the adaptability to the ever changing business requirements of information systems in the dynamic environment.

Service oriented approach to facility management using extended building information modelling

Facility management (FM), from a service oriented approach, addresses the functions and requirements of different services such as energy management, space planning and security service. Different service requires different information to meet the needs arising from the service. Object-based Building Information Modelling (BIM) is limited to support FM services; though this technology is able to generate 3D models that semantically represent facility’s information dynamically over the lifecycle of a building. This paper presents a semiotics-inspired framework to extend BIM from a service-oriented perspective. The extended BIM, which specifies FM services and required information, will be able to express building service information in the right format for the right purposes. The service oriented approach concerns pragmatic aspect of building’s information beyond semantic level. The pragmatics defines and provides context for utilisation of building’s information. Semiotics theory adopted in this paper is to address pragmatic issues of utilisation of BIM for FM services.

Coaching SME managers: business development or personal therapy? A mixed methods study

While a growing number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are making use of coaching, little is known about the impact such coaching has within this sector. This study sought to identify the factors that influence managers' decision to engage with coaching, their perceptions of the coaching ‘journey’ and the kinds of benefits accruing from coaching: organisational, personal or both. As part of a mixed methods approach, a survey tool was developed based upon a range of relevant management competencies from the UK's Management Occupational Standards and responses analysed using importance-performance analysis, an approach first used in the marketing sector to evaluate customer satisfaction. Results indicate that coaching had a significant impact on personal attributes such as ‘Managing Self-Cognition’ and ‘Managing Self-Emotional’, whereas the impact on business-oriented attributes was weaker. Managers' choice of coaches with psychotherapeutic rather than non-psychotherapeutic backgrounds was also statistically significant. We conclude that even in the competitive business environment of SMEs, coaching was used as a largely personal, therapeutic intervention rather than to build business-oriented competencies.

Reverse transfers of innovation and national development: evidence from Brazilian subsidiaries

The search for innovation has become an important motivation for the internationalization of companies in emerging countries. In that context, this study tests the impact that a nation’s development has on whether subsidiaries transfer innovation of products or that of processes. Survey data collected from 73 subsidiaries of Brazilian companies indicate that companies located in developed markets tend to transfer more product-oriented innovations than do those based in emerging countries. Furthermore, the size and age of a subsidiary has an impact on the transfer process. The larger and younger the subsidiary, the more likely a company is to favor the flow of product innovation into its headquarters. The level of national development was not identified as an influence on the flow of process innovation.

Integrated Product Development in Truck Industry - A Case Study on Product Development Processes

This paper presents the result from a case study at Scania on product development processes. The objective with the case study was to gather information on Scania’s product development process (PDP) including the use of CAD and simulation tools, and project work. The objective was also to find any deviations or different interpretations among the employees on the PDP. To gather the information, semi-structured tape-recorded interviews have been used to ensure that individual interpretations from the interviewees could be gathered. Scania uses a defined and structured PDP which facilitates concurrent and cross-functional work. The PDP is implemented and followed to various degrees. The newly employed personnel may have difficulties with communication, both to find and to give information. Although, newly graduated personnel may find it easier to adapt to changes, and also to use a structured process which they have studied at universities. It was also known during the case study that the PDP is a major support for the newly employed personnel, which in turn decreases the time to get into the same working process as the more experienced personnel. Employees with decades of experience know the right sources from which to both give and gather information. Also, the terminology and definitions in the product development process may not be used as intended. This makes it difficult for other project members or teams who need to interpret the information received. At the same time, the routines among the more experienced personnel, which have been set-up throughout the years, make them more inflexible in adapting changes. The findings in the case study as well as challenges with implementing the PDP are known to Scania and are a part of the continuing work with improvement.

Health system context and implementation of evidence-based practices-development and validation of the Context Assessment for Community Health (COACH) tool for low- and middle-income settings

Background: The gap between what is known and what is practiced results in health service users not benefitting from advances in healthcare, and in unnecessary costs. A supportive context is considered a key element for successful implementation of evidence-based practices (EBP). There were no tools available for the systematic mapping of aspects of organizational context influencing the implementation of EBPs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Thus, this project aimed to develop and psychometrically validate a tool for this purpose. Methods: The development of the Context Assessment for Community Health (COACH) tool was premised on the context dimension in the Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services framework, and is a derivative product of the Alberta Context Tool. Its development was undertaken in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Uganda, South Africa and Nicaragua in six phases: (1) defining dimensions and draft tool development, (2) content validity amongst in-country expert panels, (3) content validity amongst international experts, (4) response process validity, (5) translation and (6) evaluation of psychometric properties amongst 690 health workers in the five countries. Results: The tool was validated for use amongst physicians, nurse/midwives and community health workers. The six phases of development resulted in a good fit between the theoretical dimensions of the COACH tool and its psychometric properties. The tool has 49 items measuring eight aspects of context: Resources, Community engagement, Commitment to work, Informal payment, Leadership, Work culture, Monitoring services for action and Sources of knowledge. Conclusions: Aspects of organizational context that were identified as influencing the implementation of EBPs in high-income settings were also found to be relevant in LMICs. However, there were additional aspects of context of relevance in LMICs specifically Resources, Community engagement, Commitment to work and Informal payment. Use of the COACH tool will allow for systematic description of the local healthcare context prior implementing healthcare interventions to allow for tailoring implementation strategies or as part of the evaluation of implementing healthcare interventions and thus allow for deeper insights into the process of implementing EBPs in LMICs.