This contributed volume is a result of discussions held at ABICT’13(4th International Workshop on Advances in Business ICT) in Krakow, September 8-11, 2013. The book focuses on Advances in Business ICT approached from a multidisciplinary perspective and demonstrates different ideas and tools for developing and supporting organizational creativity, as well as advances in decision support systems.This book is an interesting resource for researchers, analysts and IT professionals including software designers. The book comprises eleven chapters presenting research results on business analytics in organization, business processes modeling, problems with processing big data, nonlinear time structures and nonlinear time ontology application, simulation profiling, signal processing (including change detection problems), text processing and risk analysis.

This book introduces the fundamental principles of understanding business requirements to apply enterprise resource planning (ERP) in order to meet business needs. The book also helps readers understand the usage of ERP for monitoring and controlling business processes, while providing practical oriented solutions to the design and implementation of ERP. Using the provided framework, a business can decide to provide more value at lower cost which increases its competitive advantage. This should be an ideal reference for executives, researchers and consultants in project management of ERP. ERP can be considered to be an integrated package of business process. The scope of ERP determines the extent of automation of business process. For example if ERP covers Human Resource (HR) and finance business processes only, then business process related HR and finance are automated. Typically business process that are automated in HR and finance employee entry and exist process, allocation of employee ID, payroll, processing , income tax planning and actual deduction etc. There is seamless flow of employee data and information is available at an effectively faster rate to take appropriate decision. As custom demand increases, there is a need to meet the changing scenario with speed and efficiency. While there is a need to increase productivity, there is also a need to reduce cost of operation. The repetitive business processes can be handled effectively by automating them and freeing human resources for meeting other uncertainties. These automations not only should be done for each department, but also should cut across different departments. Thus there is a need for automating business processes at enterprise level. This enterprise level automation started with MRP, then MRP II, ERP and then finally open source ERP have taken centre stage. Out of the standard products available in the market, an organization can chose an ERP product for implementation, depending on the features available and the total cost of ownership (TCO). This comparison helps an organization to choose the product that best suits the needs for the organization. Enterprise Resource Planning: Fundamentals of Design and Implementation highlights these concepts while discusses different good practices to design and implement ERP.

Develops insights into solving complex problems in engineering, biomedical sciences, social science and economics based on artificial intelligence. Some of the problems studied are in interstate conflict, credit scoring, breast cancer diagnosis, condition monitoring, wine testing, image processing and optical character recognition. The author discusses and applies the concept of flexibly-bounded rationality which prescribes that the bounds in Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon’s bounded rationality theory are flexible due to advanced signal processing techniques, Moore’s Law and artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Rational Decision Making examines and defines the concepts of causal and correlation machines and applies the transmission theory of causality as a defining factor that distinguishes causality from correlation. It develops the theory of rational counterfactuals which are defined as counterfactuals that are intended to maximize the attainment of a particular goal within the context of a bounded rational decision making process. Furthermore, it studies four methods for dealing with irrelevant information in decision making: Theory of the marginalization of irrelevant information Principal component analysis Independent component analysis Automatic relevance determination method In addition it studies the concept of group decision making and various ways of effecting group decision making within the context of artificial intelligence. Rich in methods of artificial intelligence including rough sets, neural networks, support vector machines, genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, simulated annealing, incremental learning and fuzzy networks, this book will be welcomed by researchers and students working in these areas.

This book investigates the functioning and effects of moral rules and values as endogenous elements of governance structures when applied to economic and social transactions. The point of departure and framework of this book is Josef Wieland's theory of Ethics of Governance. Its focal point is the governance of the normative aspects of corporations. The Ethics of Governance is a comparative research project on business and economic ethics which started 15 years ago. Divided into five chapters, the book provides a comprehensive insight into the theoretical foundation and application-oriented results of the research project. It covers theoretical, conceptual and practical challenges in the global economy with regard to a sustainable economy, the social responsibility of corporations, and their transcultural and normative management. By offering comprehensive insight into the research results of the Ethics of Governance project, this book provides a unique scientific work on business and economic ethics.

​This book contributes to the current discussion in society, politics and higher education on innovation capacity and the financial and non-financial incentives for researchers. The expert contributions in the book deal with implementation of incentive systems at higher education institutions in order to foster innovation. On the other hand, the book also discusses the extent to which governance structures from economy can be transferred to universities and how scientific performance can be measured and evaluated. This book is essential for decision-makers in knowledge-intensive organizations and higher-educational institutions dealing with the topic of performance management.

This book examines seven key combinatorial engineering frameworks (composite schemes consisting of algorithms and/or interactive procedures) for hierarchical modular (composite) systems. These frameworks are based on combinatorial optimization problems (e.g., knapsack problem, multiple choice problem, assignment problem, morphological clique problem), with the author’s version of morphological design approach – Hierarchical Morphological Multicritieria Design (HMMD) – providing a conceptual lens with which to elucidate the examples discussed. This approach is based on ordinal estimates of design alternatives for systems parts/components, however, the book also puts forward an original version of HMMD that is based on new interval multiset estimates for the design alternatives with special attention paid to the aggregation of modular solutions (system versions). The second part of ‘Modular System Design and Evaluation’ provides ten information technology case studies that enriches understanding of the design of system design, detection of system bottlenecks and system improvement, amongst others. The book is intended for researchers and scientists, students, and practitioners in many domains of information technology and engineering. The book is also designed to be used as a text for courses in system design, systems engineering and life cycle engineering at the level of undergraduate level, graduate/PhD levels, and for continuing education. The material and methods contained in this book were used over four years in Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) in the author’s faculty course “System Design�.

​This volume includes the full proceedings from the 1998 Multicultural Marketing Conference held in Montreal, Canada. The focus of the conference and the enclosed papers is on marketing to various ethnic groups in both a US and global context. It presents papers on various multicultural issues across the entire spectrum of marketing activities and functions including marketing management, marketing strategy, and consumer behavior.   Founded in 1971, the Academy of Marketing Science is an international organization dedicated to promoting timely explorations of phenomena related to the science of marketing in theory, research, and practice. Among its services to members and the community at large, the Academy offers conferences, congresses and symposia that attract delegates from around the world. Presentations from these events are published in this Proceedings series, which offers a comprehensive archive of volumes reflecting the evolution of the field. Volumes deliver cutting-edge research and insights, complimenting the Academy’s flagship journals, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS) and AMS Review. Volumes are edited by leading scholars and practitioners across a wide range of subject areas in marketing science.​ 

This book provides support to academics as well as managers, who deal with policies and strategies related to work issues. Effective work practices and good employee relations are a real necessity of nowadays organizations, as they can help to reduce absenteeism, employee turnover and organizational costs. Instead, they support high levels of commitment, effectiveness, performance as well as productivity. The book focusses on the implications of those changes in productivity and organizations management. It explores the models, tools and processes used by organizations in order to help managers become better prepared to face the challenges and changes in work and consequently, in the way how to manage todays' organizations.

Enriching understanding of the current theoretical debate on project-based learning and R&D sourcing, ‘Project-based Knowledge in Organizing Open Innovation’ draws on innovation literature and knowledge-based perspectives to solve open problems in the relationship between knowledge development at project level and how firms organize product innovation combining in-house R&D activities with inbound open innovation. Through field research in different industrial settings (pharmaceutical, automotive and machine tools) and with complementary methodological approaches, this book provides empirical evidence on how project knowledge features affect sourcing decisions at firm level. Due to the emerging interest in the management literature on project-based organizations and on the relevance of project forms of organizing in a knowledge-based economy, this volume will appeal to scholars and students in business and management, in particular those in innovation management, organization theory and strategic management. Addressing the still open issue of how the firm level should be complemented by studies at the project level of analysis, this book provides theoretical and empirical arguments on the advantages of a more fine-grained level of analysis to understand how firms organize their innovation processes across boundaries.

This publication is in collaboration with the University of Buckingham and is the result of a combined research and review process carried out by the three Editors who belongs to the University of Ferrara, Italy, the University of Buckingham, UK and Swansea University, UK. The book deepens the debate about the lean enterprise from both an academic and a professional management perspective. It thus provides the reader with a sound understanding of the modern lean enterprise and its current evolution. A range of innovative topics are covered, with individual chapters addressing the combinations of lean with hoshin kanri, green management, IT, organizational learning, flow accounting, system thinking, problem solving, internationalization aspects, luxury industry, and product innovation. Since the term “lean� first entered contemporary operations management language in 1990 to describe a set of practices proven to deliver superior performance over mass production systems, the lean approach to waste reduction and value generation has moved from vehicle production to other manufacturing sectors. It has reshaped the support functions of manufacturing businesses and has evolved from private industry into the public sector. Lean thinking is now a dominant model of operations management and has brought with it a new language and toolbox.

The International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) decision to require aviation organizations to adopt Safety Management Systems poses a major problem especially for small and medium sized aviation companies. The complexity of regulations overstrains the aviation stakeholders who seek to fully advantage from them but have no clear guidance. The aim of the book is to show the implementation of such a new system with pragmatic effort in order to gain a gradation for smaller operators. This approach should illustrate the leeway in order to adapt the processes and to show the interfaces between Corporate Risk Management and Safety Management. The book shows how to build a system with reasonable effort, appropriate to the size and complexity of the specific operator. It also gives inputs on the key aspects and how to effectively operate such a system with the various interfaces. Furthermore, the book highlights the importance of Corporate Risk Management independent of Safety Management Systems based on ICAO.

This book examines the implementation of science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in eight Latin American countries and the different paths these policies have taken. It provides empirical evidence to examine the extent to which STI policies are contributing to the development of the region, as well as to the solution of market failures and the stimulus of the region’s innovation systems. Since the pioneering work of Solow (1957), it has been recognized that innovation is critical for economic growth both in developed and in less-developed countries. Unfortunately Latin America lags behind world trends, and although over the last 20 years the region has established a more stable and certain macroeconomic regime, it is also clear that these changes have not been enough to trigger a process of innovation and productivity to catch-up. Against this rather grim scenario there is some optimism emerging throughout the region. After many years of inaction the region has begun to invest in science, technology and engineering once again. Furthermore, after many changes in innovation policy frameworks, there is now an emerging consensus on the need for a solution to coordination failures that hinder the interaction between supply and demand. Offering an informative and analytic insight into STI policymaking within Latin America, this book can be used by students, researchers and practitioners who are interested in the design and implementation of innovation policies. This book also intends to encourage discussion and collaboration amongst current policy makers within the region.

Followed by the previous part (Volume-1), Volume-2 of carbon footprint assessment book deals with the assessment of carbon footprint in different other sectors, which were not dealt in the first part. Attention on Carbon footprint is growing day-by-day from the public, government and media. Certainly it is one of the most important topics in the agenda of every nation, which is trying its best to reduce its carbon footprint to the maximum possible extent. Every manufacturing industry or sector would like to reduce the carbon footprint of its products and consumers are looking for the products which emit lower carbon emissions in their entire life cycle. Assessment of Carbon footprint for different products, processes and services and also carbon labeling of products have become familiar topics in the recent past in various industrial sectors. Every industry has its unique assessment and modeling techniques, allocation procedures, mitigation methods and labeling strategies for its carbon emissions. With this background, volume two of this book has been framed with dedicated chapters on carbon footprint assessment on various industrial sectors, apart from the ones covered in Volume 1. In each chapter, details pertaining to the assessment methodologies of carbon footprint followed in a particular industry, challenges in calculating the carbon footprint, case studies of various products in that particular industry, mitigation measures to be followed to trim down the carbon footprint, recommendations for further research are discussed in detail.

The book is devoted to the problem of manufacturing scheduling, which is the efficient allocation of jobs (orders) over machines (resources) in a manufacturing facility. It offers a comprehensive and integrated perspective on the different aspects required to design and implement systems to efficiently and effectively support manufacturing scheduling decisions. Obtaining economic and reliable schedules constitutes the core of excellence in customer service and efficiency in manufacturing operations. Therefore, scheduling forms an area of vital importance for competition in manufacturing companies. However, only a fraction of scheduling research has been translated into practice, due to several reasons. First, the inherent complexity of scheduling has led to an excessively fragmented field in which different sub problems and issues are treated in an independent manner as goals themselves, therefore lacking a unifying view of the scheduling problem. Furthermore, mathematical brilliance and elegance has sometimes taken preference over practical, general purpose, hands-on approaches when dealing with these problems. Moreover, the paucity of research on implementation issues in scheduling has restricted translation of valuable research insights into industry. "Manufacturing Scheduling Systems: An Integrated View on Models, Methods and Tools" presents the different elements constituting a scheduling system, along with an analysis the manufacturing context in which the scheduling system is to be developed. Examples and case studies from real implementations of scheduling systems are presented in order to drive the presentation of the theoretical insights. The book is intended for an ample readership including industrial engineering/operations post-graduate students and researchers, business managers, and readers seeking an introduction to the field.

Software effort estimation is one of the oldest and most important problems in software project management, and thus today there are a large number of models, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses in general, and even more importantly, in relation to the environment and context in which it is to be applied. Trendowicz and Jeffery present a comprehensive look at the principles of software effort estimation and support software practitioners in systematically selecting and applying the most suitable effort estimation approach. Their book not only presents what approach to take and how to apply and improve it, but also explains why certain approaches should be used in specific project situations. Moreover, it explains popular estimation methods, summarizes estimation best-practices, and provides guidelines for continuously improving estimation capability. Additionally, the book offers invaluable insights into project management in general, discussing issues including project trade-offs, risk assessment, and organizational learning. Overall, the authors deliver an essential reference work for software practitioners responsible for software effort estimation and planning in their daily work and who want to improve their estimation skills. At the same time, for lecturers and students the book can serve as the basis of a course in software processes, software estimation, or project management.

Despite the topic’s urgency and centrality, this is the first edited volume to offer a comprehensive assessment of the varying approaches to early engagement with new technologies, including nanotechnology, synthetic biology, biotechnology and ICT. Covering five main approaches to early engagement—constructive technology assessment (CTA), value-sensitive design (VSD), midstream modulation (MM), the network approach for moral evaluation, and political technology assessment—the book will be a pivotal text in the rapidly developing research field of ELSI, which explores the ethical, legal, and social implications of new technologies. Featuring leading scholars who discuss each early engagement approach in turn, the chapters cover both theory and applications, and include evaluative assessments of specific instances of early adoption of technologies. Further contributions focus on theoretical issues relevant to all approaches, including interdisciplinary cooperation, normativity and intervention, and political and public relevance. The publication has added profile due to the requirement of multi-billion-dollar research programs in the US and Europe to engage in ELSI research alongside that of the technical development itself, even in the early stages. Its comprehensive scrutiny of the core factors in early engagement will ensure a readership of policy makers as well as scientists and engineers.

This book integrates multiple criteria concepts and methods for problems within the Risk, Reliability and Maintenance (RRM) context. The concepts and foundations related to RRM are considered for this integration with multicriteria approaches. In the book, a general framework for building decision models is presented and this is illustrated in various chapters by discussing many different decision models related to the RRM context. The scope of the book is related to ways of how to integrate Applied Probability and Decision Making. In Applied Probability, this mainly includes: decision analysis and reliability theory, amongst other topics closely related to risk analysis and maintenance. In Decision Making, it includes a broad range of topics in MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making) and MCDA (Multi-Criteria Decision Aiding; also known as Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis). In addition to decision analysis, some of the topics related to Mathematical Programming area are briefly considered, such as multiobjective optimization, since methods related to these topics have been applied to the context of RRM. The book addresses an innovative treatment for the decision making in RRM, thereby improving the integration of fundamental concepts from the areas of both RRM and decision making. This is accomplished by presenting an overview of the literature on decision making in RRM. Some pitfalls of decision models when applying them to RRM in practice are discussed and guidance on overcoming these drawbacks is offered. The procedure enables multicriteria models to be built for the RRM context, including guidance on choosing an appropriate multicriteria method for a particular problem faced in the RRM context. The book also includes many research advances in these topics. Most of the multicriteria decision models that are described are specific applications that have been influenced by this research and the advances in this field. Multicriteria and Multiobjective Models for Risk, Reliability and Maintenance Decision Analysis is implicitly structured in three parts, with 12 chapters. The first part deals with MCDM/A concepts methods and decision processes. The second part presents the main concepts and foundations of RRM. Finally the third part deals with specific decision problems in the RRM context approached with MCDM/A models.

This is the first book to present field studies on the application of subject-oriented business process management (S-BPM). Each case presents a specific story and focuses on an essential modeling or implementation issue, and most end with implications or suggestions for further studies. Significant variables and success factors are identified that were discovered during the respective study and lead to suggesting S-BPM novelties. For each case, the authors explain step-by-step how the story develops, and provide readers guidance by detailing the respective rationale. The studies covered are clustered according to three main S-BPM themes: Part I “Business Operation Support� documents approaches to the practical development of S-BPM solutions in various application domains and organizational settings, while Part II “Consultancy and Education Support� highlights cases that can help to train readers in S-BPM modeling and knowledge acquisition for S-BPM lifecycle iterations. It also refers to architecting S-BPM solutions for application cases based on hands-on experience. Part III “Technical Execution Support� focuses on concepts for utilizing specific theories and technologies to execute S-BPM models. It also addresses how to create reference models for certain settings in the field. Lastly, the appendix covers all relevant aspects needed to grasp S-BPM modeling and apply it based on fundamental examples. Its format reconciles semantic precision with syntactic rigor.>Addressing the needs of developers, educators and practitioners, this book will help companies to learn from the experiences of first-time users and to develop systems that fit their business processes, explaining the latest key methodological and technological S-BPM developments in the fields of training, research and application.

This book provides the readers with a thorough and systematic introduction to hesitant fuzzy theory. It presents the most recent research results and advanced methods in the field. These includes: hesitant fuzzy aggregation techniques, hesitant fuzzy preference relations, hesitant fuzzy measures, hesitant fuzzy clustering algorithms and hesitant fuzzy multi-attribute decision making methods. Since its introduction by Torra and Narukawa in 2009, hesitant fuzzy sets have become more and more popular and have been used for a wide range of applications, from decision-making problems to cluster analysis, from medical diagnosis to personnel appraisal and information retrieval. This book offers a comprehensive report on the state-of-the-art in hesitant fuzzy sets theory and applications, aiming at becoming a reference guide for both researchers and practitioners in the area of fuzzy mathematics and other applied research fields (e.g. operations research, information science, management science and engineering) characterized by uncertain ("hesitant") information. Because of its clarity and self contained explanations, the book can also be adopted as a textbook from graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

The intensity of global competition and ever-increasing economic uncertainties has led organizations to search for more efficient and effective ways to manage their business operations. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been widely used as a conceptually simple yet powerful tool for evaluating organizational productivity and performance. Fuzzy DEA (FDEA) is a promising extension of the conventional DEA proposed for dealing with imprecise and ambiguous data in performance measurement problems. This book is the first volume in the literature to present the state-of-the-art developments and applications of FDEA. It is designed for students, educators, researchers, consultants and practicing managers in business, industry, and government with a basic understanding of the DEA and fuzzy logic concepts.

Forecasting is a crucial function for companies in the fashion industry, but for many real-life forecasting applications in the, the data patterns are notorious for being highly volatile and it is very difficult, if not impossible, to analytically learn about the underlying patterns. As a result, many traditional methods (such as pure statistical models) will fail to make a sound prediction. Over the past decade, advances in artificial intelligence and computing technologies have provided an alternative way of generating precise and accurate forecasting results for fashion businesses. Despite being an important and timely topic, there is currently an absence of a comprehensive reference source that provides up-to-date theoretical and applied research findings on the subject of intelligent fashion forecasting systems. This three-part handbook fulfills this need and covers materials ranging from introductory studies and technical reviews, theoretical modeling research, to intelligent fashion forecasting applications and analysis. This book is suitable for academic researchers, graduate students, senior undergraduate students and practitioners who are interested in the latest research on fashion forecasting.

This book provides a detailed description of how to apply Lean Six Sigma in the health care industry, with a special emphasis on process improvement and operations management in hospitals. The book begins with a description of the Enterprise Performance Excellence (EPE) improvement methodology developed by the author that links several methodologies including systems thinking, theory of constraints, Lean and Six Sigma to provide an enterprise-wide prioritization and value-chain view of health care. The EPE methodology helps to improve flow at the macro or value-chain level, and then identifies Lean Six Sigma detailed improvements that can further improve processes within the value-chain. The book also provides real-world health care applications of the EPE and Lean Six Sigma methodologies that showed significant results on throughput, capacity, operational and financial performance. The Enterprise Performance Excellence methodology is described, and also the Six Sigma DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) problem solving approach which is used to solve problems for health care processes as they are applied to real world cases. The case studies include a wide variety of processes and problems including: emergency department throughput improvement; operating room turnaround; operating room organization; CT imaging diagnostic test reduction in an emergency department; linen process improvement; implementing sepsis protocols in an emergency department; critical success factors of an enterprise performance excellence program.

Exploring Lean manufacturing in a holistic manner, this book helps organizations to implement Lean principles successfully by offering theoretical, empirical and practical knowledge. It empirically demonstrates how a successful Lean initiative can improve organizational efficiency, and incorporates valuable primary research to substantiate findings. It argues that Lean principles need to be applied throughout the value chain in order to be successful , and suggests that these tools need to be aligned with culture and change management. Chapters examine issues including Lean cultures, impediments to Lean, Lean and performance measurement, and the impact of Lean. Viewing Lean as a never-ending journey, this book provides a valuable resource to practising Lean managers, and specialist researchers and students, and also offers an important reference for organizations embarking on their Lean voyage.

This book shows how business process management (BPM), as a management discipline at the intersection of IT and Business, can help organizations to master digital innovations and transformations. At the same time, it discusses how BPM needs to be further developed to successfully act as a driver for innovation in a digital world.  In recent decades, BPM has proven extremely successful in managing both continuous and radical improvements in many sectors and business areas. While the digital age brings tremendous new opportunities, it also brings the specific challenge of correctly positioning and scoping BPM in organizations. This book shows how to leverage BPM to drive business innovation in the digital age. It brings together the views of the world’s leading experts on BPM and also presents a number of practical cases. It addresses mangers as well as academics who share an interest in digital innovation and business process management. The book covers topics such as BPM and big data, BPM and the Internet of Things, and BPM and social media. While these technological and methodological aspects are key to BPM, process experts are also aware that further nontechnical organizational capabilities are required for successful innovation.  The ideas presented in this book have helped us a lot while implementing process innovations in our global Logistics Service Center. Joachim Gantner, Director IT Services, Swarovski AG Managing Processes  – everyone talks about it, very few really know how to make it work in today’s agile and competitive world. It is good to see so many leading experts taking on the challenge in this book. Cornelius Clauser, Chief Process Officer, SAP SE This book provides worthwhile readings on new developments in advanced process analytics and process modelling including practical applications – food for thought how to succeed in the digital age. Ralf Diekmann, Head of Business Excellence, Hilti AG This book is as an important step towards process innovation systems. I very much like to congratulate the editors and authors for presenting such an impressive scope of ideas for how to address the challenging, but very rewarding marriage of BPM and innovation. Professor Michael Rosemann, Queensland University of Technology