This book presents a study of so-called indie video game developers that are widely regarded as the creative and innovative fringe of the video game industry. The video game industry is an exemplary entrepreneurial high growth industry that combines digital media, cinematographic representations and interactive gaming technologies, and uses global digital distribution channels to reach local gaming communities. The study examines a number of issues, concerns, challenges, and opportunities that indie developers are handling as part of their development work. The love of gaming and video games more specifically is the shared and unifying force of both so-called Triple-A developers and the indie developer community. Still, issues such as how to raise financial capital or otherwise fund the development work, or how to optimize the return on investment when video games are released on digital platforms are issues that indie developers need to cope with. The study is theoretically framed as a case of an innovation-led sector of the economy, yet being anchored in the Swedish welfare state model, wherein e.g., free tertiary education and social insurances and health case at low cost are provided and supportive of enterprising. This book will be valuable reading for academics working in the fields of knowledge management, innovation, and the creative economy.

Wouldn't it be great if you could design a product with the customer in mind-right from the very start? Well, now there's a way: Quality Function Development, or QFD, translates the needs of the consumer directly into the design and development of new products and services. By focusing on customer needs and incorporating them into every phase of the manufacturing process, it eliminates waste and improves customer satisfaction. And that means increased sales, greater profits and a bigger share of the market.
Step-by-Step QFD is a practical, hands-on guide to implementing QFD at any organization. Written by an expert in the field, it shows how the intensive study of consumer needs can be used to help you dramatically outperform the competition. In fact, the strategies outlined in this book have already met with great success at a number of corporations both within and outside of the United States.
This workbook includes a case study of QFD in action, 34 helpful workshops and an analysis of the synergy between QFD, TRIZ and Taguchi. So whether you're a QFD trainer, project manager, design engineer or manufacturer, Step- by-Step QFD will show you how to let one voice drive your entire design process- the customer's!

This book discusses the role of human computer interaction (HCI) design in fostering digital literacy and promoting socio-cultural acceptance and usage of the latest ICT innovations in developing countries. The book presents techniques, theories, case studies, and methodologies in HCI design approaches that have been used to foster digital literacy, break the socio-cultural barriers to ICT adoption, and promote the widespread usage of the latest innovations in the health, agriculture, economic, education and social sectors in developing countries. The authors provide insights on how crossing disciplines in HCI such as usability design, user centered design, user experience, anticipated user experience, technology acceptance design, persuasive design, philosophical designs, motivational design, social-cultural oriented designs, and other HCI design approaches have promoted digital literacy and stimulated socio-cultural acceptance and the usage of the latest ICT innovations. The book is relevant in academic, industry and government. Presents theoretical, practical, and socio-cultural approaches to digital literacy challenges in developing countries; Discusses recent ICT and HCI innovations used to transform the health, agriculture, economic, education and social sectors in developing countries; Provides insights on design opportunities and challenges presented in countries where digital literacy is very low and with complex socio-cultural dynamics.

This book analyses state-of-the-art techniques in business process management as drivers of advanced entrepreneurship, financial management, supply chain management, and sustainability management. The role of management in a rapidly-changing environment and the use of innovative methods and techniques to address and solve key management problems are also explored.

In this essential you will learn how to use the changed rules of the game of Industry 4.0 and discover patterns for new business models. Reinhard Ematinger shows you how to describe your current business model in a structured way, sketch and test new business models and define the benefits for existing and new customers. Real and current examples accompany you through this book and questions support you in the transfer to application in your organization. This Springer essential is a translation of the original German 1st edition essentials, Von der Industrie 4.0 zum Geschaftsmodell 4.0 by Reinhard Ematinger, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2018.The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors.

This book makes a significant contribution to the development of management sciences, in terms of strategic management and more strictly resource approach to the company through structural definition of knowledge.

In this essential, Josef Gochermann provides a compendium of the essential elements of technology management and answers ten important questions on how to identify new technologies, properly evaluate relevant technologies, recognize opportunities and risks in time, and position yourself for technological success. He shows how to use technologies beneficially, make relevant technologies available at the right time, recognize the end of a technology's performance in time, and plan the use of technologies strategically and for the future.

With the implementation of the strategic plan "Made in China 2025" as its guideline and "the study of formulation of executive summary of innovative design in the manufacturing industry" as the main theme, this book provides an in-depth interpretation of innovative design from three perspectives - why, what and how. Chapter One, "The Necessity of Developing Innovative Design," focuses on why innovative design should be developed, and Chapter Two, "Concept And Connotation of Innovative Design," explains what innovative design is, while Chapters Three to Seven systematically and comprehensively discuss how to develop innovative design and how to improve innovative design skills in various contexts, including key industries, business, personnel training, platform building, and supporting measures. Lastly, Chapter Eight "Cases of Innovative Design" explores the value of innovative design and innovative design-driven industrial transformation. By analyzing several design-driven companies, such as China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, Haier Group and GAG Trumpchi, and the role of corporate innovative development as well as typical examples of major innovative design projects, it offers readers insights and inspiration.

Over the last few decades universities in Australia and overseas have been criticized for not meeting the needs and expectations of the societies in which they operate. At the heart of this problem is their strategy. This book reviews the organizational-level strategies of some of Australia's prominent universities. It is based on their public documents that boldly report how they see their role in society and how they intend to navigate the future. These strategic statements are written to proclaim relevance, showcase achievements, attract students, and help to gain the support of the communities in which they operate. Using a strategy framework taught in their business schools, this book suggests that most such statements are deficient. Grand aspirations substitute for realistic operations and outcomes. The analysis also suggests that many of Australia's universities are poorly governed and have become too complex and bureaucratic. A greater focus on their core responsibilities would help alleviate their current funding predicament.

This book analyses prevailing approaches and policies in innovative entrepreneurship. It explores the ways in which entrepreneurs learn and develop innovation-based businesses to drive increased regional competitiveness. Specifically, the contributions propose that sustainable innovation ecosystems booster innovative entrepreneurship and thus create a competitive advantage for smart and sustainable growth. It also examines the current state of entrepreneurship education, where the development of entrepreneurial abilities is considered a process of value creation-both economic and social-with the final aim to create both new start-ups and entrepreneurial mind-sets.Featuring theoretical approaches and empirical evidences, this title is appropriate for scholars, academics, students and policy makers in technology and innovation management, economics of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The book discusses, elaborates on and answers questions to the following points: Firstly, what has changed through the information technology represented by software, Internet and big data? How do these changes effect the production relationships, the production mode and the industrial development model? Can China realize a "great-leap-forward" in economic development by promoting such a new Internet economy? Secondly, what is the format shown by the Internet economy? Is the Internet economy a market economy, or a planned economy, or is it an economic complex format which combines the planned economy and the market economy? What is the structure of the future economy? Which entities will compete with each other throughout the industries? What is the format of the future financial investment industry? Why does the Internet economy have a revolutionary impact on the economic base and the superstructure? Thirdly, let us look back on the traditional manufacturing industry. What on earth is the core value of the manufacturing industry? How is the core technology and core value of manufacturing realized? Why can it be that the industrial Internet will become a rare historical opportunity for China's manufacturing industry and economy to achieve a "great-leap-forward" development? Finally, in the big economic tide of Internet and big data, what are the future variables of China's economy? What is the established economic policy of the United States for the global economy and industries? How should the economic variables of the United States be best dealt with, those that are determined as "US priority" and "the return of manufacturing industry" strongly promoted by the U.S. President Trump?

Gary Madden was a renaissance man with respect to the nexus between information and communications technology (ICT) and economics. He contributed to a variety of fields in ICT: applied econometrics, forecasting, internet governance and policy. This series of essays, two of which were co-authored by Professor Madden prior to his untimely death, cover the range of his research interests. While the essays focus on a number of ICT issues, they are on the frontier of research in the sector. Gerard Faulhaber provides a broad overview of how we have reached the digital age and its implications. The applied econometric section brings the latest research in the area, for example Lester Taylor illustrates how own-price, cross-price and income elasticities can be calculated from survey data and translated into real income effects. The forecasting section ranges from forecasting online political participation to broadband's impact on economic growth. The final section covers aspects of governance and regulation of the ICT sector.

This book examines the impact of industry 4.0, and constructs a strategic digital transformation operational framework to prepare for it. It begins by examining the background of industry 4.0, exploring the industrial internet, new business models and disruptive technologies, as well as the challenges that this revolution brings for industries and manager. The research enhances our understanding of strategic digital transformation framework within industry 4.0. It will be valuable reading for academics working in the field of industry 4.0 and strategy, as well as practitioners interested in enhancing their firms' readiness for industry 4.0.

This book gathers selected peer-reviewed papers presented at the 6th European Lean Educator Conference (ELEC), held in Milan, Italy, on November 11-13, 2019. The conference topics include the following: lean trainings in university and industry collaborations; lean product and process development; lean and people empowerment; emerging contexts for lean applications; measuring lean performance; lean, green and circular; continuous improvement initiatives; lean thinking in practice; organizational culture in lean journeys; and innovative training approaches to teaching lean management. The contributions explore the latest academic and industrial findings on and advances in lean education, and identify innovative methods that allow lean thinking benefits to be achieved in practice. As such, the book presents the outcomes of a fruitful exchange between academia and industry designed to help train the next generation of lean educators.

Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles to non-game contexts, and has been used to solve problems by applying characteristics of games. Though it has principally been applied in the areas of business and education, this book seeks to expand focus beyond this, looking at how gamification can be used for social change, the development of organizations and the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development goals. Including contributors from across the glove, it draws on a rich array of case studies, from inclusivity in the workplace to ecosystems in the Amazon. A timely contribution to an exciting, growing field, this book engages with the theoretical framework and lays out the foundations for a rigorous theory-based stream of research. It will be valuable reading to scholars and practitioners interested in social change, sustainability, gamification and organizational studies. Agnessa Spanellis (PhD, MEng) is an Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University, Scotland and a member of the Research Centre for Logistics and Sustainability at Edinburgh Business School, leading research on gamification for sustainable development and exploring how gamification can improve social and environmental sustainability, especially in more deprived and impoverished communities in low-income counties. J. Tuomas Harviainen (PhD, MBA) works as Associate Professor of information Practices at Tampere University, Finland. Harviainen's work ranges from information sharing in creative organizations to games and gamification. He firmly believes that good research can also be a form of societal activism.

The goal of the world class company is to produce a product or service that offers customers the highest quality at the lowest cost and in the shortest time possible. "Product Design Review" describes a highly effective method for quality control in product design, as well as its applications in a wide variety of business settings.

Take care of the problems that erupt during product development by nipping them in the bud (during the design stage). Takashi Ichida describes a powerful tool insuring quality at concept stage, thereby eliminating redesign, retooling, rework, and error throughout the production process. The program he describes can be carried out through every phase of new product development - - from product planning to design, production, and marketing. Also explains how you can incorporate your customer feedback into the next production cycle.

You'll always need to modify any process improvement technology to suit your company's culture, product type, manufacturing approach, and customer needs. "Product Design Review" has taken case studies from a cross section of industries and describes each company's unique application of Ichida's process. You'll not only see the tremendous results these companies have achieved by using Design Review, but you'll also see the difficulties they've encountered.

Also included are five essays that compare Design Review with other innovations in manufacturing process such as artificial intelligence, checklists, quality function deployment (QFD), design of experiments (DOE), and configuration control.

Responding to growing interest in new regulations adopted by the EU, US, and UK authorities, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the legal and economic aspects of FinTech and the current regulation surrounding it. In particular, the book observes the technological evolution of finance and the 'economic space' that lies between the regulated market and the illegal circulation of capital. Analysing laws that influence the application of technology to the banking and finance sector, the author considers market infrastructure and illustrates how firms execute their activities on a global scale, away from the scope of public supervision and monetary backstops. With globalisation and digitalisation boosting efficiency, the economical relevance of technology is becoming ever more important and therefore this book provides a much-needed examination of the current trends in FinTech regulation, making it an essential read for those researching financial markets, and professionals within the industry.

This book provides a scholarly forum for researchers both in academia and industry from a wide range of application areas of smart cities and smart technologies to share their research findings. This book presents contributions on emerging approaches and case studies including future technological trends and challenges. This book is intended for researchers and companies in several areas such as transportation, computer science, and electrical engineering, among others. The book is composed of extended versions of selected papers from the 1st International Conference on Smart Cities and Smart Technologies (MIC-Smart 2019), 7-9 June 2019 Istanbul Turkey. Presents research from a wide range of application areas into smart cities and smart technologies; Includes topics such as smart devices, smart grid, and smart transportation and vehicles; Composed of extended versions of selected papers from the 1st International Conference on Smart Cities and Smart Technologies (MIC-Smart 2019).

This edited collection explores how digitalization is changing the management of innovation, and the subsequent implications for the next phases in its development. The authors identify and examine relevant phenomena which are related to the ongoing digital breakthrough in the context of innovation management such as user innovation, crowd sourcing and crowd funding, as well as social media. In line with the constant globalization of innovation, the first volume of Revolution of Innovation Management offers a variety of international perspectives on these topics with illustrations and analysis coming from Asia, America, and Europe.

This book is a compilation of the recent technologies and innovations in the field of automotive embedded systems with a special mention to the role of Internet of Things in automotive systems. The book provides easy interpretable explanations for the key technologies involved in automotive embedded systems. The authors illustrate various diagnostics over internet protocol and over-the-air update process, present advanced driver assistance systems, discuss various cyber security issues involved in connected cars, and provide necessary information about Autosar and Misra coding standards. The book is relevant to academics, professionals, and researchers.

The main purpose of this book is to expose economics graduate students and researchers to the most significant development in international trade that has taken place in the recent past. Service transactions now make up a sizeable portion of global trade. Trade in both final and intermediate inputs is done virtually through information and communication networks, raising afresh the question of the basis of trade and calling for in-depth investigation. This book succinctly comes up with a relatively new explanation for the basis of trade, thus it adds a new dimension to three existing building blocks: technology, endowment, and returns to scale. Against a backdrop of standard Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohlin competitive models of trade, the chapters of this book nicely introduce the issue of communication cost and the difference in time zones between two trading nations. Then follow many intricate phenomena such as informality, skill formation, growth, wage inequality, and decisions regarding foreign direct investment (FDI). However, imperfectly competitive models are not dealt with in great detail as they deserve more space than can be allotted to them here. Given the nonexistence of any research-oriented in-depth analyses of competitive trade models with time-zone differences, this book is a valuable addition to the resources available to researchers and policymakers interested in deciphering recent developments in global trade patterns and the subsequent welfare effect.

This book explores blockchain technology's impact on banks, particularly how blockchain technology can create new opportunities for banks and poses new threats to their business. The digital revolution in the banking industry, whose customers are increasingly adapting to new technologies and new types of competitors and solutions arising in the space, has had a significant impact on the banking industry over the past few years, requiring banks to substantially rethink their business models and strategies in order to cope with these developments. The rise of blockchain's distributed ledger technology (DLT) has also played an important role since it has the potential to change the whole banking industry in faster and more disruptive ways than ever before. Born as the technology underlying Bitcoin, which has been used to allow the recording of cryptocurrencies transactions, blockchain can facilitate the process of recording any transaction type and track the movement of any asset, finding application in many different areas. Specifically, it has been acknowledged as a disruptive force in the financial sector and a key source of future financial market innovation with the potential to reshape existing business models in the financial services industry. Regarding the banking industry in particular, existing literature suggests that blockchain poses new challenges and generates opportunities as well as threats. This is pushing banks to rethink their operations, business models and strategies. However, literature in this regard is still in its infancy, and we do not yet have a clear understanding of blockchain technology's potential implications for banks. This book expands the literature on blockchain technology in banking by providing new insights into the developments, trends and challenges of blockchain in the banking industry. In particular, sheds more light on the implications of blockchain technology for banks by discussing the advantages and disadvantages related to this technology and exploring its potential impact on traditional banking business models.

This book examines interesting new topics in applied economics from the perspectives of the economics of information and risk, two fields of economics that address the consequences of asymmetric information, environmental risk and uncertainty for the nature and efficiency of interactions between individuals and organizations. In the economics of information, the essential task is to examine the condition of asymmetric information under which the information gap is exploited. For the economics of risk, it is important to investigate types of behavior including risk aversion, risk sharing, and risk prevention, and to reexamine the classical expected utility approach and the relationships among several types of the changes in risk. Few books have ever analyzed topics in applied economics with regard to information and risk. This book provides a comprehensive collection of applied analyses, while also revisiting certain basic concepts in the economics of information and risk. The book consists of two parts. In Part I, several aspects of applied economics are investigated, including public policy, labor economics, and political economics, from the standpoint of the economics of (asymmetric) information. First, several basic frameworks of the incentive mechanism with regard to transaction-specific investment are assessed, then various tools for market design and organization design are explored. In Part II, mathematical measures of risk and risk aversion are examined in more detail, and readers are introduced to stochastic selection rules governing choice behavior under uncertainty. Several types of change in the random variable for the cumulative distribution function (CDF) and probability distribution function (PDF) are discussed. In closing, the part investigates the comparative static results of these changes in CDF or PDF on the general decision model, incorporating uncertain situations in applied economics.

The book provides a critical and integrative analysis of value as it pertains to different aspects of creative and cultural industries. The notion of 'value' - a frequently used but rarely considered term - is deconstructed and considered as a spatial and structural impact, an active resource and process, and as soft institutions and embodied forms which collectively create a space through which value is constructed and negotiated. This book consists of three main sections: normative valuation, value and transformation from interactions and process, and embodied value. Together the contributions assess what value means in the creative and cultural industries, how it is constructed and added through process, and the way in which it is embodied in people and shaped through and by social space. Especially relevant for postgraduate study and research in the creative and cultural industries where critical studies are key, this book is also relevant for multiple disciplines which occupy the creative and cultural fields.

Collaboration among industry, universities and research institutes plays a vital role in stimulating open innovation, which in turn leads to new products, processes, services and business models. This book brings together a number of real-life examples of how to govern and manage open innovation collaboration projects more effectively, and provides timely insights that project consortia, governance boards and funding agencies can directly apply to implement and monitor projects and achieve greater impacts. All papers were written by recognized leading authorities with extensive experience in governance and management, and reveal how to capitalize on the potential of open innovation. This book shares multidisciplinary research perspectives on the potential benefits and challenges of collaboration, project management, and open innovation, as well as the management of complex organizational cultures and governance models.