Fabian Andres Lara-Molina, João Maurício Rosário, Didier Dumur and Philippe Wenger
– The purpose of this paper is to address the synthesis and experimental application of a generalized predictive control (GPC) technique on an Orthoglide robot.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address the synthesis and experimental application of a generalized predictive control (GPC) technique on an Orthoglide robot.
Design/methodology/approach
The control strategy is composed of two control loops. The inner loop aims at linearizing the nonlinear robot dynamics using feedback linearization. The outer loop tracks the desired trajectory based on GPC strategy, which is robustified against measurement noise and neglected dynamics using Youla parameterization.
Findings
The experimental results show the benefits of the robustified predictive control strategy on the dynamical performance of the Orthoglide robot in terms of tracking accuracy, disturbance rejection, attenuation of noise acting on the control signal and parameter variation without increasing the computational complexity.
Originality/value
The paper shows the implementation of the robustified predictive control strategy in real time with low computational complexity on the Orthoglide robot.
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In this research we explore the issue of “competence management,” as usually defined in the corporate vocabulary, mostly in the human resource (HR) function, and more particularly…
Abstract
In this research we explore the issue of “competence management,” as usually defined in the corporate vocabulary, mostly in the human resource (HR) function, and more particularly of “strategic competence management” (long-run management of competences which are critical to achieve strategic goals). We try to show that competence management is a dynamic organizational competence. We analyze it in the case of a large European telecommunications company, France Télécom, in the years 2001–2003. The telecommunications sector is characterized by quick changes in technology, markets, and industrial structures, and therefore a high level of uncertainty. It is also a high-tech activity, based upon continuously evolving personal skills which require long education and training times. There is an apparent contradiction between uncertainty, which makes planning difficult, and the necessity to plan new competence development with long response times. This contradiction cannot be solved if competences are defined in a static way, as structural attributes of actual or potential employees or groups of employees. The strategic competence management issue must be considered rather in the frame of a dynamic, process-based view, which involves an on-going collective and reflexive activity of actors themselves to define and manage their competences. We tested process-based competence management in the case of two telecommunication domains: high bit-rate ADSL telecommunications and Internet services to small and medium businesses. The reflexive and collective competence management process had to be instrumented with instruments which did not aim at an accurate representation of competences as objects, but rather tried to offer a meaningful support for actors’ continuous (re)interpretation of present and future work situations in terms of critical competences. As a conclusion we extend the example of competence management instruments to the general issue of management instruments, in the context of uncertain and dynamic environments. Information-based theories of instruments view instruments as specular representations of situations, which allow optimal or satisficing problem-solving procedures. But when business environments continuously evolve and resist prediction, we must move toward an interpretive view of management instruments as meaningful signs, which help actors to make sense of the situations in which they are involved. Their relevance is not an absolute ontological truth but the practical effectiveness of their context-situated utilization and interpretation. A semiotic and pragmatist theory of activity and instruments can then be proposed.
In Mémoires of a cabinotier (Memoir of a watchmaker), a 60-year history of the Genevan watch manufacture (1931), the author Paul Maerky recalls his early years apprenticing in…
Abstract
In Mémoires of a cabinotier (Memoir of a watchmaker), a 60-year history of the Genevan watch manufacture (1931), the author Paul Maerky recalls his early years apprenticing in Saint-Gervais, Geneva’s horological district, better known as La Fabrique. Located in the heart of Geneva on the right bank of the river Rhone, the Saint-Gervais district established itself as a major Swiss center of horological production spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Maerky’s autobiography is a lively and detailed account of apprenticed life in Saint-Gervais from 1871 to 1876. Drawing from this narrative source, this chapter discusses the Saint-Gervais apprenticeship system as a multisited educational phenomenon, whereby public spaces are conceptualized as an extension of the workshop or the habitual locus of horological knowledge and skill acquisition. This case study of the Saint-Gervais horological craft community in the 1870s analyzes the manner in which youthful apprentices interact with public spaces. Through the physical exploration of the district and its various educational loci, apprentices acquire spatial and relational knowledge. This chapter also discusses the metaphorical meanings assigned to places and their educational function within the context of nineteenth century watchmaking apprenticeship, during which apprentices undertake a metaphorical quest which takes them from childhood into adulthood as full-fledged members of the Genevan watchmaking community. In addition, this case study discusses the function of practical jokes as social mechanisms that regulate youth’s interaction with public spaces. As alternative educational loci, public spaces serve threefold educational functions: (1) to federate an otherwise heterogeneous working-class population around a common identity delineated by known physical and cultural boundaries; (2) to promote apprentice autonomy and foster distrust vis-à-vis outsiders; and (3) to create the setting for youth socialization through play or conflict. This chapter comments on alternative educational loci as relayed by Paul Maerky’s memoir, which include the streets, public fountains, the road to school, and eateries.
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Philip H. Mirvis and Mitchell Lee Marks
We review our work as collaborators over nearly 40 years as researchers and OD practitioners on the human, cultural, and organizational aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A)…
Abstract
We review our work as collaborators over nearly 40 years as researchers and OD practitioners on the human, cultural, and organizational aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This chapter addresses (1) how our thinking, research methods, and practices developed over time, (2) accounts of deriving theory from practice and contrariwise of applying theory to practical matters, (3) how our respective shifts from academe toward scholarly-practice influenced our thinking and how we write, and (4) varieties of scholarly collaboration – ranging from intensive interchange to sequential pitch and catch. Early work covers a study of a “white-knight” acquisition and then advising on post-merger integration in a hostile takeover, revealing the stages of a deal, dynamics of buyers and sellers, and human factors that produce the “merger syndrome.”
Throughout we talk about confronting challenges of the scholar-practitioner divide as it pertains to role definition and boundary management as well to our theorizing, writing, and publication agenda. The chapter concludes with reflections on doing applied research in collaboration with a colleague (and friend).
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Mainstream sociology tends to consider mental processes and their underlying structures, including the perception of society, mainly to be a result of socialization, which is…
Abstract
Mainstream sociology tends to consider mental processes and their underlying structures, including the perception of society, mainly to be a result of socialization, which is generally conceptualized in terms of the more or less intentional, interpersonal transmission of cultural elements. In contrast and rightly so, marxist theory has always insisted on praxis as an essential feature of consciousness formation. The concept of alienation, when it is not entirely subjectivized (as it is in the Seeman tradition), is usually derived directly from basic structural conditions of capitalism, especially from the coerced division of labor (Wallimann 1981). Conceived to be a constant of the entire system, it is of little use to explain within‐system variations of current images of society and of one's place within it.
Philippe Van Berten and Jean‐Louis Ermine
For almost 20 years, knowledge management projects hit various domains. This paper aims to describe briefly a set of four well‐tried knowledge management tools allowing…
Abstract
Purpose
For almost 20 years, knowledge management projects hit various domains. This paper aims to describe briefly a set of four well‐tried knowledge management tools allowing practitioners to analyse and structure, describe and represent, share and store, teach and transmit knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper focuses on selected tools now of general practice and becoming popular among the practitioners.
Findings
The paper finds that, originally out of the information science laboratories, the tools introduced here have been proved tested efficient and reliable after hundreds of real projects, no matter what type of industry and domain use them. This now common practice should open the path to new models for the knowledge economy. Dealing with complexity becomes easier as well as putting the information system at the crossing of the interactive information flows instead of keeping it out of reach of a majority of knowledge workers. Because of the massive retirement of the baby boomers, a large loss of workforce challenges the companies for the first time in history. How to evaluate and pass to the next generation its core business of knowledge is thus of critical importance.
Originality/value
This paper reminds that knowledge management is no longer a solely academic issue since tools of the next generation are now available, beefing up the growing domain of the knowledge economy.
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Peter van Thienen, Lydia Tsiami, Mollie Torello and Dragan Savić
European Union (EU) research projects generally involve international teams based in different countries. This means that researchers need to travel internationally to participate…
Abstract
Purpose
European Union (EU) research projects generally involve international teams based in different countries. This means that researchers need to travel internationally to participate for in-person meetings, which are crucial for facilitating collaboration among research teams and provide a platform for teams to share their progress. Unfortunately, much of the international traveling in EU projects is done by air and therefore it has a significant carbon footprint. One potential solution that has gained attention in recent years is virtual reality (VR) and the metaverse. The aim of this work is to investigate to what degree VR meetings provide a viable alternative to physical meetings in the context of EU research projects and can thus contribute to climate change mitigation.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-stepped approach was chosen. First, the requirements for VR meetings were determined by collecting all relevant aspects of physical meetings through a questionnaire. Second, a set of VR meeting experiments were designed and executed. Third, carbon footprints for both physical traveling and VR meetings (lifecycle) were calculated.
Findings
We conclude that VR can be a powerful tool which can supplement international projects and mitigate carbon emissions associated with traveling for in-person meetings by an estimated 7–19 times.
Originality/value
This paper explores the suitability of the current generation of VR technology and quantitatively evaluates its effectiveness for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation in the context of a European research project.
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Tracelyn Cornelius-Hernandez and Amelia Clarke
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and analyze the academic literature on integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) into knowledge mobilization (KMb).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and analyze the academic literature on integrating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) into knowledge mobilization (KMb).
Design/methodology/approach
This systematic literature review of the body of scholarly literature published on integrating EDI with KMb follows established methods and protocols proposed by Popay et al. (2006) and Page et al. (2021). Using a relevant keyword string, a search was conducted in ProQuest and SCOPUS to find peer-reviewed articles, which were then screened using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Finally, inductive and deductive analyses were conducted on the selected articles.
Findings
The findings suggest that most of the authors are based in the Global North, the majority of literature was published in the last two years, and that it is conceptual. This synthesis highlights five solution-oriented themes: acknowledging inherent bias, centering marginalized groups, promoting responsible knowledge mobilization, establishing partnerships, and advocating for transformational and systemic change. This study also identifies four broad barriers: inherent, unconscious, and implicit biases, a lack of evidence-based best practices, siloing of research and information, and a lack of institutional support and resources. Findings also highlight the value of further research into barriers, gaps and opportunities.
Originality/value
By studying the intersection of EDI and KMb, this contemporary synthesis of the state of the field presents opportunities for future research into gaps, barriers and potential solutions.