Kalle Piirainen, Samuli Kortelainen, Kalle Elfvengren and Markku Tuominen
The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges in the front end of innovation (FEI) and to propose a scenario‐based approach to alleviate some of these problems, particularly…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges in the front end of innovation (FEI) and to propose a scenario‐based approach to alleviate some of these problems, particularly as regards uncertainty in opportunity recognition.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper answers the main research question through a literature review and a case study. The paper employs the design‐oriented approach to propose an artifact which solves the underlined problem, and validate the artifact through the case study.
Findings
According to the literature review, scenarios should offer a viable method for opportunity recognition. The case study supports the theoretical proposition, and suggests that scenarios can be used to alleviate the effect of uncertainty in the FEI.
Research limitations/implications
The empirical results are limited to the level of proof‐of‐concept. The scenario process as such was rated positively, which corresponds to the theory and previous similar experiments, but the benefits of the scenario approach have yet to be verified. Practical implications are a novel method for finding and assessing new business concepts.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this paper is the formed process artifact to alleviate the challenges in the FEI. The scenario approach can be used to probe the near future for business development purposes.
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Lea Hannola, Samuli Kortelainen, Hannu Kärkkäinen and Markku Tuominen
The traditional front‐end‐of‐innovation (FEI) research and requirements engineering (RE) in software development have realized the opportunities for overall innovation process…
Abstract
Purpose
The traditional front‐end‐of‐innovation (FEI) research and requirements engineering (RE) in software development have realized the opportunities for overall innovation process improvements by focusing on improving the front‐end activities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the managerial perceptions on the similarities and differences in the FEI concepts between software industry and the traditional industrial sector.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach of this paper can be categorized as a case study. Causal cognitive maps are used as graphic tools for collecting and analyzing the perceptions of selected experts about the concepts of FEI, and for recognizing the perceived interrelationships between these concepts.
Findings
The paper presents the similarities and differences in the FEI concepts between the two industries. The most similarly assessed concept is that the quality of a product or software development project can be most often influenced by successful execution of detailed customer needs analysis.
Research limitations/implications
The selection of a purely academic interview group representing the traditional industrial sector has some limitations.
Practical implications
This paper provides viewpoints to managers and project team members on the most important factors in their front‐end activities influencing the success of product or software development projects.
Originality/value
The intersection between FEI and RE and its handling by causal cognitive mapping is a novel territory in academic research. In addition, this paper opens up a new strand for academic discussion by connecting these two domains previously unconnected in literature.
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Athakorn Kengpol, Sopida Tuammee and Markku Tuominen
The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for route selection in multimodal transportation which can reduce cost, lead time, risk and CO2 emission in multimodal…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for route selection in multimodal transportation which can reduce cost, lead time, risk and CO2 emission in multimodal transportation systems.
Design/methodology/approach
This research proposes the development of a framework for route selection in multimodal transportation that includes a six-phase framework to select an optimal multimodal transportation route. The first phase is to collect the data of each route and select the origin and destination. The second phase is to calculate time and cost of each route by using a multimodal transport cost-model. In the third phase, the CO2 emissions are calculated based upon the 2006 guidelines of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The fourth phase proposes an integrated quantitative risk assessment, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis methodology to evaluate the multimodal transportation risk. The fifth phase is to prioritize criteria by using the AHP which can be used in the objective function. The final phase is to calculate the optimal route by using the zero-one goal programming.
Findings
The aims of the model are to minimize transportation costs, transportation time, risk and CO2 emission.
Practical implications
The approach has been tested on a realistic multimodal transportation service, originating from Bangkok in Thailand to a destination at Da Nang port in Vietnam. The results have shown that the approach can provide guidance in choosing the lowest cost route in accordance with other criteria, and to minimize the CO2 emission effectively.
Originality/value
The contribution of this research lies in the development of a new decision support approach that is flexible and applicable to logistics service providers, in selecting multimodal transportation route under the multi-criteria in term of cost, time, risk and importantly the environmental impact.
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Tae-Ho Lee, Jung Ung Min and Jung-Soo Park
The main streams of the supply chain are defined as material, information and financial flow. There have been many studies and practical cases regarding the flow of material and…
Abstract
The main streams of the supply chain are defined as material, information and financial flow. There have been many studies and practical cases regarding the flow of material and information including information sharing. However, financial flow related studies have not been widely examined relatively, compared with their importance.
The information sharing is recognized as the method that can reduce the Bullwhip effect in supply chain management. The author intends to analyze the impact of financial information sharing on the results of the supply chain.
In the point of supply chain risk management view, the author examined the impact of financial flow among the various factors that can impede the stability of the supply chain.
In this study, the author embodied the simulation regarding the impact of financial information flow on supply chain performance and stability based on the system dynamics methodology and analyzed the performance.
Assuming the supply chain, composed of supplying company, manufacturing company and sales company , the author embodied the simulation model and assumed that working capital and cash information sharing were achieved. The author embodied the model to affect the settlement conditions according to the results of financial information sharing.
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Virpi Pennanen, Markku Tammenmaa, Tommi Reinikainen, Jiansen Zhu and Wei Lin
Owing to the demands of increasing I/O counts and thermal performance BGA (ball grid array) type packaging concepts are rapidly gaining in popularity. Use of various modelling…
Abstract
Owing to the demands of increasing I/O counts and thermal performance BGA (ball grid array) type packaging concepts are rapidly gaining in popularity. Use of various modelling tools is an obvious way to save resources by discarding the most unreliable solutions before wasting testing capacity. A testing procedure was created and then evaluated. Two components were assembled on test boards and the assembled boards were temperature cycled from –40 to +125°C. Parametric 3D FE‐models (finite element) of the components were generated and models were verified. Environmental conditions were added to assess the lifetimes of the assemblies in the targeted environment. Some differences in the TBGAs board level reliability were found. With all contributions of parameters the first failures happened after 1,000 cycles. FE‐modelling combined with accelerated stress testing proved to be an effective tool for test result analysis and for rationalising the test sequences.
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The purpose of this paper is to identify the risks and challenges related to the change in building construction projects to the European Union (EU) zero-energy building (nZEB…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the risks and challenges related to the change in building construction projects to the European Union (EU) zero-energy building (nZEB) decree in the year 2020. Another goal was to create solutions to those risks and challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
A workshop method was chosen to gather up-to-date information from the construction cluster in Finland.
Findings
In the workshop, the main concern was the level of knowledge and know-how with all the parties working with construction projects. As an answer to this challenge, serious and substantial education in the organisations and competence requirements for designers and piloting as much as possible in the next few years was offered. Commissioning consultant was also seen as vital for nZEB project. Tight schedules and unfit project delivery systems were also seen as a risk for nZEB projects. However, modern project delivery systems were seen to be problematic in practice even if they were functional in theory.
Originality/value
The results of the workshop are valuable for all parties working with building construction projects in Finland and the whole EU area.