Pervasive limitations : innovating with ambient intelligence (AmI) technologies and restricted absorptive capacity in Australian SME manufacturers

The last 25 years have seen rapid increases in the number and sophistication of technological and process innovations in large manufacturers, producing dramatic improvements in productivity and efficiency. However, smaller manufacturers’ adoption of such innovations has been uneven. Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technologies are being positioned as the next performance and productivity enhancing purchase for manufacturers. This paper defines and gives examples of AmI technologies in current use, summarises AmI technologies of potential interest to small and medium enterprise (SME) manufacturers, and identifies potential impacts of restricted absorptive capacity in SMEs on the adoption of AmI technologies. Comparing two SME manufacturers, one from Germany and one from Australia illustrates a potential application of generic AmI technology based business solutions to a range of SME manufacturers.

Influence of stocking rate and mixed grazing of Angora goats and Merino sheep on animal and pasture production in southern Australia : 1 : botanical composition, sward characteristics and availability of components of annual temperate pastures

The effects of animal species (AS; Angora goats, Merino sheep or goats and sheep mixed grazed together at ratio 1:1) and stocking rate (SR; 7.5, 10 and 12.5 animals/ha) on the availability, botanical composition and sward characteristics of annual temperate pastures under continuous grazing were determined in a replicated experiment from 1981 to 1984. AS and SR had significant effects on pasture availability and composition and many AS SR interactions were detected. The pastures grazed by sheep had significantly reduced content and proportion of subterranean clover and more undesirable grasses compared with those grazed by goats. There were no differences in dry matter availabilities between goat- and sheep-grazed pastures at 7.5/ha, but at 10 and 12.5/ha goat pastures had significantly increased availabilities of green grass, dead and green clover and less weeds compared with sheep pastures. There was a significant AS SR interaction for the density of seedlings in May following pasture germination. Between July and January, the height of pastures was greater under goats than sheep but from January to March pasture height declined more on goat-grazed than on sheep-grazed pastures. There was an AS SR interaction for incidence of bare ground. Increasing the SR increased bare ground in pastures grazed by sheep but no change occurred on pastures grazed by goats. Changes in pasture characteristics due to increased SR were minimised on pastures grazed by goats but the grazing of sheep caused larger and faster changes and the pastures were damaged at the highest SR. Goats did not always select the same herbage material as sheep, changed their selection between seasons and were not less selective than sheep. Angora goats were flexible grazers and continually adapted their grazing behaviour to changing herbage conditions. Goat grazing led to an increase in subterranean clover, an accumulation of dead herbage at the base of the sward, reduced bare ground, taller pastures in spring and a more stable botanical composition. Mixed-grazed pasture characteristics were altered with SR. With careful management Angora goats on sheep farms may be used to manipulate pasture composition, to speed up establishment of subterranean clover, to decrease soil erosion and to reduce weed invasion.

Influence of stocking rate and mixed grazing of Angora goats and Merino sheep on animal and pasture production in southern Australia : 2 : liveweight, body condition score, carcass yield and mortality

The effects of animal species (AS; Angora goats, Merino sheep, mixed-grazed goats and sheep at the ratio of 1:1) and stocking rate (SR; 7.5, 10 and 12.5 animals/ha) on the liveweight, body condition score, carcass yield and mortality of goats and sheep were determined in a replicated experiment on improved annual temperate pastures in southern Australia from 1981 to 1984. The pattern of liveweight change was similar for both species with growth from pasture germination in autumn until maturation in late spring followed by weight loss. In winter, sheep grew faster than goats (65 versus 10 g/day, P < 0.05). In mixed-grazed treatments between November and December goats either grew when sheep were losing weight or goats lost less weight than sheep (P < 0.01). Both AS (P < 0.001) and SR (P < 0.001) affected liveweight of sheep and an AS SR interaction (P <  0.05) affected liveweight of goats. Mixed-grazed sheep were heavier than separately grazed sheep at all SR with a mean difference at 10 and 12.5/ha of 4.6 kg. Mixed-grazed goats at 10/ha were heavier than separately grazed goats from the end of the second year of the experiment, but at 12.5/ha, separately grazed goats maintained an advantage over mixed-grazed goats, with a 9.4-kg mean difference in December (P < 0.05). Body condition scores of goats and sheep declined with increasing SR; they were highest in late spring and were highly correlated with liveweight (r² > 0.8). Both AS and SR affected (P < 0.001) carcass weight and GR tissue depth as a direct result of differences in liveweight. Adjusting for differences in carcass weight negated AS effects on GR tissue depth. The carcass weights of sheep and goats increased by similar amounts for each 1-kg increase in liveweight. Mortality of sheep (3.1% p.a.) was unaffected by AS or SR. An AS SR interaction indicated mortality of separately grazed goats at 12.5/ha and mixed-grazed goats at 10 and 12.5/ha were higher (P < 0.05) than all other goat (29 versus 9%) and sheep treatments, primarily because of increased susceptibility to cold stress. Disease prevalence differed between sheep and goats. Mixed grazing of Merino sheep and Angora goats produced complementary and competitive effects depending upon the SR. Goats used summer pasture better but winter pasture less well for liveweight gain than sheep. Angora goats should not be grazed alone or mixed grazed with sheep on annual temperate pastures at SR greater than that recommended for Merino sheep and the evidence indicates a lower SR will reduce risks associated with mortality.

A decision-making model to choose business intelligence platforms for organizations

In recent time, technology applications in different fields, especially Business Intelligence (BI) have been developed rapidly and considered to be one of the most significant uses of information technology with special position reserved. The application of BI systems provides organizations with a sense of superiority in the competitive environment. Despite many advantages, the companies applying such systems may also encounter problems in decision-making process because of the highly diversified interactions within the systems. Hence, the choice of a suitable BI platform is important to take the great advantage of using information technology in all organizational fields. The current research aims at addressing the problems existed in the organizational decision-making process, proposing and implementing a suitable BI platform using Iranian companies as case study. The paper attempts to present a solitary model based on studying different methods in BI platform choice and applying the chosen BI platform for different decisionmaking processes. The results from evaluating the effectiveness of subsequently implementing the model for Iranian Industrial companies are discussed.

Influence of stocking rate and mixed grazing of Angora goats and Merino sheep on animal and pasture production in southern Australia : 3 : mohair and wool production and quality

The effects of animal species (AS; Angora goats, Merino sheep, mixed-grazed goats and sheep at the ratio of 1:1) and stocking rate (SR; 7.5, 10 and 12.5 animals/ha) on fibre production and quality were determined in a replicated experiment on improved annual temperate pastures in southern Australia from 1981 to 1984. Separately grazed sheep produced the most total clean fibre/ha at each SR. Mixed-grazed treatments produced amounts of clean fibre/ha similar to the arithmetic mean of sheep and goat treatments at 7.5/ha (21.9 versus 21.3 kg/ha), 10% more at 10/ha (28.3 versus 25.3 kg/ha, P < 0.05) and 7% more at 12.5/ha (31.6 versus 29.6 kg/ha, P < 0.10). Clean wool production/head was affected by AS and SR but not year. Clean mohair production was affected by SR and year but not AS. Variation in mean fibre diameter (MFD) accounted for 67 and 71%, respectively, of the variation in clean wool and clean mohair production/head. There was an AS SR interaction for clean fibre production/t pasture. Growth rate of mohair was highest in autumn and least in summer. In each season, an increase in the SR reduced the clean mohair growth rate. Growth rate of wool was highest in spring and least in summer. Wool and mohair MFD were affected by an AS SR interaction. Mohair MFD was also affected by year and season. At 10/ha, wool from mixed-grazed sheep had a greater MFD than wool from separately grazed sheep (20.2 versus 18.9 μm) and mixed-grazed goats grew mohair 1 μm coarser than separately grazed goats. At 12.5/ha mixed-grazed goats grew mohair 1.9 μm finer than separately grazed goats. Mohair MFD was predicted by a multiple regression that included average liveweight for the period of fleece growth, season of growth (summer 1 μm finer than winter) and year (range 1.27 μm). Mohair MFD increased 4.7 μm/10 kg increase in average fleece-free liveweight (P = 6.4 10-14). Fleece-free liveweight alone accounted for 76.4% of the variation in mohair MFD. There was an AS SR interaction for the incidence of kemp and medullated fibres; under severe grazing pressure their incidence was suppressed. This experiment indicated that the principles associated with the effects of SR on wool production on annual temperate pastures apply to mohair production. Mixed grazing of Merino sheep and Angora goats produced complementary and competitive effects depending on the SR. Angora goats should not be grazed alone or mixed-grazed with sheep on annual temperate pastures at SR greater than that recommended for Merino sheep.

Critical success factors for business intelligence systems

The implementation of a business intelligence (BI) system is a complex undertaking requiring considerable resources. Yet there is a limited authoritative set of critical success factors (CSFs) for management reference because the BI market has been driven mainly by the IT industry and vendors. This research seeks to bridge the gap that exists between academia and practitioners by investigating the CSFs influencing BI systems success. The study followed a two-stage qualitative approach. Firstly, the authors utilised the Delphi method to conduct three rounds of studies. The study develops a CSFs framework crucial for BI systems implementation. Next, the framework and the associated CSFs are delineated through a series of case studies. The empirical findings substantiate the construct and applicability of the framework. More significantly, the research further reveals that those organisations which address the CSFs from a business orientation approach will be more likely to achieve better results.

An artificial intelligence examination of the influence of geological conditions and changes in climate on damage to light structures in Victoria

Damage to light structures in the state of Victoria can be caused by movements of expansive soils. The presentation will present the results of an examination of reports of increasing complaints of house damage in Victoria and particularly in the Melbourne area. The examination analyses the influence of geology and change in climate using Neural Network and Genetic Algorithm approaches and assesses their relative importance in contributing to the cause of the damage.

Developing emotional intelligence in high potential middle managers

This paper reports on a mixed quantitative and qualitative longitudinal study, performed in Australia, in which experiential training was used to foster increased emotional intelligence in a group of middle managers previously identified as high achievers. Evaluation of pre and post-training measures of emotional intelligence confirmed a significant difference in scores on an instrument measuring the construct. These results were confirmed by content analysis of journals kept by participants during the management development program. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for management development as well as for further research.

A brief review of recent research trends on applications of computational and statistical techniques in financial and business intelligence

Artificial neural networks and statistical techniques like decision trees, discriminant analysis, logistic regression and survival analysis play a crucial role in Business Intelligence. These predictive analytical tools exploit patterns found in historical data to make predictions about future events. In this paper we have shown some recent developments of a few of these techniques in financial and business intelligence applications like fraud detection, bankruptcy prediction and credit rating scoring.

Animal migration : linking models and data beyond taxonomic limits

An international workshop on animal migration was held at the Lorentz Center in Leiden, The Netherlands, 2–6 March 2009, bringing together leading theoreticians and empiricists from the major migratory taxa, aiming at the identification of cutting-edge questions in migration research that cross taxonomic borders.