Conceptualizing design

Companies are becoming increasingly dependent on the productivity of their knowledge workers in comparison to manual workers (Ramírez and Nembhard 2004, p.602). Practitioners, researchers or commentators do not consistently conceptualize design (Love 2000, p.295; Pugh 1990, p.65). There is a need to not only rethink design processes and practices but also to re-consider design conceptualization that underpins processes and practices. The aim is to develop a clear understanding of design as conceptualized in the literatures from construction design, design management, design productivity, design practices and the process of design. The objective is to review how researchers have conceptualized design.

Within, but not between hands interactions in vibrotactile detection thresholds reflect somatosensory receptive field organization

Detection of a tactile stimulus on one finger is impaired when a concurrent stimulus (masker) is presented on an additional finger of the same or the opposite hand. This phenomenon is known to be finger-specific at the within-hand level. However, whether this specificity is also maintained at the between-hand level is not known. In four experiments, we addressed this issue by combining a Bayesian adaptive staircase procedure (QUEST) with a two-interval forced choice (2IFC) design in order to establish threshold for detecting 200ms, 100Hz sinusoidal vibrations applied to the index or little fingertip of either hand (targets). We systematically varied the masker finger (index, middle, ring, or little finger of either hand), while controlling the spatial location of the target and masker stimuli. Detection thresholds varied consistently as a function of the masker finger when the latter was on the same hand (Experiments 1 and 2), but not when on different hands (Experiments 3 and 4). Within the hand, detection thresholds increased for masker fingers closest to the target finger (i.e., middle>ring when the target was index). Between the hands, detection thresholds were higher only when the masker was present on any finger as compared to when the target was presented in isolation. The within hand effect of masker finger is consistent with the segregation of different fingers at the early stages of somatosensory processing, from the periphery to the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). We propose that detection is finger-specific and reflects the organisation of somatosensory receptive fields in SI within, but not between the hands.

Design (provisional chapter title)

The move of parts of OUP's publishing operation from London to Oxford in the 1970s allowed the creation of a centralised art and design department. Drawing on material in the OUP archives this chapter traces the kinds of work that this department undertook and the subsequent devolution of design activities to publishing divisions. Book design at Oxford is considered both stylistically and in response to technological changes. The relationship with the Printing House and its design standards, the search for standardisation and the need for economy, and the specialist design skills demanded by OUP's publications are recurring themes. Innovations in using overseas suppliers and in the introduction of desktop publishing technology are located in relation the the organization of the design function at OUP and its relationship to editorial policies.The chapter concludes with a consideration of the corporate identity system introduced in 1998, and its relationship to previous manifestations of 'Oxford style'.

From Rational Design of Drug Crystals to Understanding of Nucleic Acid Structures: Lamivudine Duplex

A DNA-like duplex of nucleosides is probable to exist even without the 5`-phosphate groups needed to assemble the chain backbone. However, double-stranded helical structures of nucleosides are unknown. Here, we report a duplex of nucleoside analogs that is spontaneously assembled due to stacking of the neutral and protonated molecules of lamivudine, a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NTRI) widely used in anti-HIV drug combinatory medication. The left-handed lamivudine duplex has features similar to those of i-motif DNA, as the face-to-face base stacking and the helix rise per base pair. Furthermore, the protonation pattern on alternate bases expected for it DNA-like duplex stabilized by pairing of neutral and protonated cytosine fragments was observed for the first time in the lamivudine double-stranded helix. This structure demonstrates that hydrogen bonds can substitute for covalent phosphodiester linkage in the stabilization of the duplex backbone. This interesting example of spontaneous molecular self-organization indicates that the 5`-phosphate group could not be a requirement for duplex assembly.

Approaches for multicopper oxidases in the design of electrochemical sensors for analytical applications

We report an effective approach for the construction of a biomimetic sensor of multicopper oxidases by immobilizing a cyclic-tetrameric copper(II) species, containing the ligand (4-imidazolyl)ethylene-2-amino-1-ethylpyridine (apyhist), in the Nafion (R) membrane on a vitreous carbon electrode surface. This complex provides a tetranuclear arrangement of copper ions that allows an effective reduction of oxygen to water, in a catalytic cycle involving four electrons. The electrochemical reduction of oxygen was studied at pH 9.0 buffer solution by using cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, rotating disk electrode voltammetry and scanning electrochemical microscopy techniques. The mediator shows good electrocatalytic ability for the reduction of O(2) at pH 9.0, with reduction of overpotential (350 mV) and increased current response in comparison with results obtained with a bare glassy carbon electrode. The heterogeneous rate constant (k(ME)`) for the reduction of O(2) at the modified electrode was determined by using a Koutecky-Levich plot. In addition, the charge transport rate through the coating and the apparent diffusion coefficient of O(2) into the modifier film were also evaluated. The overall process was found to be governed by the charge transport through the coating, occurring at the interface or at a finite layer at the electrode/coating interface. The proposed study opens up the way for the development of bioelectronic devices based on molecular recognition and self-organization. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Praktiska effekter av begreppsförvirring för en databas konceptuella design : En fallstudie om databas- och begreppsmodellering

Company X develops a laboratory information system (LIS) called System Y. The informationsystem has a two-tier database architecture consisting of a production database and a historicaldatabase. A database constitutes the backbone of a IS, which makes the design of the databasevery important. A poorly designed database can cause major problems within an organization.The two databases in System Y are poorly modeled, particularly the historical database. Thecause of the poor modeling was unclear concepts. The unclear concepts have remained in thedatabase and in the company organization and caused a general confusion of concepts. The splitdatabase architecture itself has evolved into a bottleneck and is the cause of many problemsduring the development of System Y.Company X investigates the possibility of integrating the historical database with the productiondatabase. The goal of our thesis is to conduct a consequence analysis of such integration andwhat the effects would be on System Y, and to create a new design for the integrated database.We will also examine and describe the practical effects of confusion of concepts for a databaseconceptual design.To achieve the goal of the thesis, five different method steps have been performed: a preliminarystudy of the organization, a change analysis, a consequence analysis and an investigation of theconceptual design of the database. These method steps have helped identify changes necessaryfor the organization, a new design proposal for an integrated database, the impact of theproposed design and a number of effects of confusion for the database.

Organizational decoration : a new metaphor for organization development

The authors call for the introduction of a new metaphor, organizational decoration, to provide a way of conceiving organizational development (OD) as an aesthetic endeavor. First, this is a response to recent calls for fresh and more interdisciplinary approaches to thinking about the practice of OD. Second, it is a provocation, for their choice of decoration is also a call for greater humility in OD’s ambitions. Rather than seek a more strategic or architectural role for OD, organizational decoration works instead at the surface and in the realm of the aesthetic. And within that realm the authors have deliberately chosen decoration over design (a term far more familiar to OD) because decoration more closely represents the ordinary and often temporary contributions that the authors advocate. Implications of moving OD down-market are discussed.

Procurement of construction facilities: a case study of design management within a design and construct organisation

Presents a case study of design management within an Australian design-construct organization on a large residential apartment project, with the purpose of identifying and analysing issues associated with the organization, responsibilities and stages of development in a typical design-construct project. Discusses the nature of introspection in the Australian construction industry, the shift in procurement methods, the design and build approach, whole life issues, the need for a design manager, and the role of the facilities manager. Profiles the case study organization and its contracts and procurement methods, before focusing on weaknesses in the company, the role of the project design development manager in leading the design team, managing the design consultants, and interacting and advising the developer in relation to design decisions. Suggests from the exercise that: the project manager should remain the overall project leader, manager and interface between design, cost, programme, buildability, construction and user requirements; the design manager should be responsible for issuing all documentation; and the design cost manager should be responsible for verifying that the design developed accords with project budgets, project brief and quality requirements in conjunction with the design manager.

Communicating the ethos of codes of ethics within the organization : a comparison of the largest private sector organizations in Sweden and Turkey

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to examine the ways that the largest private sector organizations in Sweden and Turkey communicate the intent of their codes of ethics to their employees.

Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were obtained via a self-administered mail questionnaire distributed to a census of the top 500 private sector organizations based on revenue in each country.

Findings – The research identified some interesting findings that showed that the small group of companies in Turkey that have a code may appear to be more “advanced” in ethics artifacts usage than Sweden. Such a conclusion is counter-intuitive as one would have expected a developed nation like Sweden to be more advanced in these measures than a developing nation such as Turkey. Culture may play a large role in the implementation of ethics artifacts in corporations and could be a major reason for this difference.

Research limitations/implications – As this is such a new area of investigation in Turkey, the responses amount to only 32 companies that have a code. The small sample is indicative of the formative evolution toward having codes of ethics within companies operating within Turkey.

Practical implications – This study enables those organizations that comprise corporate Turkey to view the current state of codes of ethics in Turkish companies and to compare these with the responses of a developed country of the European Union. Originality and value – A review of the literature indicates that this is the first time that such an international study specifically focused upon codes of ethics and the artifacts to inculcate the ethos of the code into every day corporate affairs has included Turkey as one of the participating countries.

Challenges of international design chain integration and cultural diversity : organisational reflexive capability

Increasingly project teams on international mega projects are composed of multiple partners from different countries forming joint ventures to achieve a higher level of strategic flexibility. Establishing and maintaining local business networks are critical to ensure the success of exporting firms. Firms who achieve competitive advantage in international markets and long term economic sustainability constantly adapt their business practices to achieve client satisfaction by a combination of self, market and project needs assessment. Successful firms ultimately achieve this in local markets but in international market this is intensified with the complexity of barriers grounded in cross-cultural contexts. The need for flexibility, adaptability and continual reassessment is enhanced as the market evolves in various localities. Reflexivity theory was used to develop a conceptual model to explain the way in which firms develop awareness, responsiveness and adaptability for long term success in diverse international markets. This paper summarizes the initial Australian study which developed the model grounded in empirical observations of design construction firms working on projects in developing countries and a second study of Malaysian firms which validated the model. The aim of this study was to develop a performance measurement framework for capabilities assessment of international collaborative partnerships. The study explored the joint venture partnerships between Australian and Malaysian property and construction professionals. Four Malaysian organizations were examined as case studies and two key activities of design management and knowledge management were analyzed in relation to social, cultural and intellectual capital transformation within the Reflexivity Capability Maturity Assessment Framework.

Implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize the scope, methodology and main findings of a doctoral thesis about the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong. This research is taken from a leadership and power and project management (PM) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach – The project adopted a case study approach in which the candidate was an employee/observer, who was embedded as a member of the business transformation team taking an action learning approach to study the ERP adoption. The research used the soft system methodology to identify gaps in the observed maturity level which exists in the organization. Data was gathered using public and private documentation, semi-structured interviews, observation and was validated through review of evidence with participants.

Findings – The results identified the importance of leadership and cultural issues in implementation of the business strategy. This research includes a contribution in two spheres: PM and construction procurement. The first implication for PM theory was to illustrate how knowledge has been efficiently managed within a construction organization by using information communication technology (ICT). It can be represented by the ladder of ICT>ERP>KM>PM. The second implication was to pave the way for the use of partnering strategies in PM practice. It can be represented by the ladder of National Culture>Organizational Culture>Leadership>Partnering Strategy>PM.

Practical implications – This model could be adapted to other large and complex organisational contexts. The research project also has implications as opening up a PM perspective on business transformation.

Originality/value – The contribution of this research is proving the success of adopting KM in a construction company by using an ERP system. The importance of culture in the traditionally collectivistic construction industry, and the issues senior management should take into account when formulating business strategies.

vPELS : an eLearning social environment for VLSI design with content security using DRM

This paper provides a proposal for personal e-learning system (vPELS) architecture in the context of social network environment for VLSI Design. The main objective of vPELS is to develop individual skills on a specific subject, say, VLSI and share resources with peers. Our system architecture defines organization and management of personal learning environment that aids in creating, verifying and sharing learning artifacts and making money at the same time. We also focus on in our research one of the most interesting arenas in digital content or document management called Digital Right Management (DRAM) and its application to eLearning.

As if the future matters : teaching design for sustainable communities

Between 2007 and 2010 a series of intensive annual field trips took around 100 predominantly city-based Australian and international students from The University of Adelaide into rural communities (numbers ranged from 82 in 2007 to 105 in 2009). Country areas/towns (rather than the city) were chosen because in them issues of sustainability are ‘in your face’ and much clearer for students to comprehend than in the city. The trips required co-operation between the respective communities, the School and the students. The organization required for this number of students was time-consuming and prone to disruption, and the series ended when the principal organisers moved on to new positions and the School reverted to less time-costly modes of teaching. This paper provides a retrospective insight into the series of field trips and examines their educational and professional value for the participants – students, staff and communities. We begin by describing the aims of the course and argument for an immersive educational approach, then present the logistics and process for the field trips, discuss the outcomes for the stakeholders, and finally present some conclusions.

Organizational design as an enabler for innovation: evidence from a German Mechanical Engineering Company

Over the past two decades there has been a profusion of empirical studies of organizational design and its relationship to efficiency, productivity and flexibility of an organization. In parallel, there has been a wide range of studies about innovation management in different kind of industries and firms. However, with some exceptions, the organizational and innovation management bodies of literature tend to examine the issues of organizational design and innovation management individually, mainly in the context of large firms operating at the technological frontier. There seems to be a scarcity of empirical studies that bring together organizational design and innovation and examine them empirically and over time in the context of small and medium sized enterprises. This dissertation seeks to provide a small contribution in that direction. This dissertation examines the dynamic relationship between organizational design and innovation. This relationship is examined on the basis of a single-case design in a medium sized mechanical engineering company in Germany. The covered time period ranges from 1958 until 2009, although the actual focus falls on the recent past. This dissertation draws on first-hand qualitative empirical evidence gathered through extensive field work. The main findings are: 1. There is always a bundle of organizational dimensions which impacts innovation. These main organizational design dimensions are: (1) Strategy & Leadership, (2) Resources & Capabilities, (3) Structure, (4) Culture, (5) Networks & Partnerships, (6) Processes and (7) Knowledge Management. However, the importance of the different organizational design dimensions changes over time. While for example for the production of simple, standardized parts, a simple organizational design was appropriate, the company needed to have a more advanced organizational design in order to be able to produce customized, complex parts with high quality. Hence the technological maturity of a company is related to its organizational maturity. 2. The introduction of innovations of the analyzed company were highly dependent on organizational conditions which enabled their introduction. The results of the long term case study show, that some innovations would not have been introduced successfully if the organizational elements like for example training and qualification, the build of network and partnerships or the acquisition of appropriate resources and capabilities, were not in place. Hence it can be concluded, that organizational design is an enabling factor for innovation. These findings contribute to advance our understanding of the complex relationship between organizational design and innovation. This highlights the growing importance of a comprehensive, innovation stimulating organizational design of companies. The results suggest to managers that innovation is not only dependent on a single organizational factor but on the appropriate, comprehensive design of the organization. Hence manager should consider to review regularly the design of their organizations in order to maintain a innovation stimulating environment.

Organizações culturais e (re)configuração do espaço: o caso do Istituto Europeo di Design, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro

O presente estudo tem como objetivo investigar de que maneira a possibilidade de instalação do Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) no bairro da Urca, na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, interfere na (re)configuração do espaço. Para o estudo desse processo adotou-se o conceito de espaço definido por Milton Santos, que o caracteriza como um conjunto indissociável de sistemas de objetos e ações, considerando necessária sua análise numa perspectiva histórica. Para ampliação das considerações sobre poder, identificação e caracterização dos atores sociais e das relações entre eles estabelecidas foram utilizados conceitos propostos por Carlos Matus para a análise da realidade social. A pesquisa de campo, de natureza qualitativa, coletou dados secundários a partir de notícias sobre o processo de revitalização do antigo Cassino da Urca e instalação do Istituto Europeo di Design no local, publicadas em jornais e revistas impressos, jornais on line e blogs, assim como dados primários, a partir de observação não estruturada das instalações ao redor do prédio do antigo Cassino da Urca, participação em reuniões da associação de bairro e entrevistas semi-estruturadas com representantes de organizações envolvidas no processo. Para o tratamento dos dados coletados, realizou-se análise argumentativa e interpretativa a partir da teoria utilizada. Com base nas notícias e documentos consultados, foi definido o período de análise, desde a cessão do prédio do antigo Cassino da Urca ao IED, em agosto de 2006, até o anúncio de parceria com outra organização, pelo instituto, em maio de 2012. O estudo permitiu identificar que a instalação do IED na Urca interferiu na configuração do espaço, principalmente no que se refere à formação e à atuação da associação de moradores do bairro, à instalação de novos empreendimentos comerciais no entorno do prédio já restaurado e, por consequência, na paisagem do bairro. Destaca-se também que a instalação do IED gerou mudanças que extrapolam os limites territoriais do bairro. Com base nos dados analisados, destaca-se que a relação de cooperação entre a Prefeitura Municipal do Rio de Janeiro e o IED foi estabelecida em torno da valorização por parte da Prefeitura do domínio de uma capacidade técnica pelo IED, nas áreas de atuação da organização, que são o ensino, pesquisa e consultoria nas áreas de arquitetura, design, moda e comunicação, o que reforça o argumento da valorização atual de organizações culturais no processo de (re)configuração do espaço urbano, quanto aos aspectos econômicos, simbólicos e sociais.