To survey the approaches to design optimization based on possibility theory and evidence theory comparatively, as well as their prominent characteristics mainly for epistemic…
Abstract
Purpose
To survey the approaches to design optimization based on possibility theory and evidence theory comparatively, as well as their prominent characteristics mainly for epistemic uncertainty.
Design/methodology/approach
Owing to uncertainties encountered in engineering design problems and limitations of the conventional probabilistic approach in handling the impreciseness of data or knowledge, the possibility‐based design optimization (PBDO), evidence‐based design optimization (EBDO) and their integrated approaches are investigated from the viewpoints of computational development and performance improvement. After that, this paper discusses the fusion technologies and an example of integrated approach in reliability to reveal the qualitative value and efficiency.
Findings
It is recognized that more conservative results are obtained with both PBDO and EBDO, which may be appropriate for design against catastrophic failure compared with the probability‐based design. Furthermore, the EBDO design may be less conservative compared with the PBDO design.
Research limitations/implications
How to perfect already‐existing integration approaches in a more generally analytical framework is still an active domain of research.
Practical implications
The paper is a holistic reference for design engineers and industry managers.
Originality/value
The paper is focused on decomposition strategies and fusion technologies, especially addressing epistemic uncertainty for large‐scale and complex systems when statistical data are scarce or incomplete.
Details
Keywords
Laura Illia, Michael Etter, Katia Meggiorin and Elanor Colleoni
Organizational legitimacy is a central concept in institutional theory and in the more recent stream of communicative institutionalism. Within this scholarship, there exists an…
Abstract
Organizational legitimacy is a central concept in institutional theory and in the more recent stream of communicative institutionalism. Within this scholarship, there exists an elaborated understanding of how macro-level actors, such as news media, influence individual judgments at the micro-level through a top-down communication process. However, little is known about the upward process by which individual propriety judgments influence validity judgments of news media at the macro-level. In this paper, we propose that this upward process of the legitimacy loop is facilitated by the degree to which expressed propriety judgments by individuals create thematic broadness, which bridges stand-alone conversations. Through a study investigating a post-scandal phase in the financial sector, we show how propriety judgments in social media become pre-validated at the meso-level prior to their validation by news media at the macro-level. The presented theoretical framework and empirical insights based on time-series regression analysis provide new knowledge about the multilevel process of organizational legitimacy formation in a digital age and extend our understanding of how a consensus is revealed at the meso-level.