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IN THE Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems at Delft University of Technology, a research project is underway into automatic, off‐line generation of programs for Flexible Assembly Systems (FASs). From the early stages of the project on, it was clear that some method for comparing programming systems was needed.

Many organizational approaches and technological opportunities are available or under development to improve the integration of design and construction. The opportunities offered by information technology are especially promising. Combining organizational approaches with state‐of‐the‐art technologies in a systematic manner will allow firms to derive the full benefits of computer‐aided design for construction. The present paper describes a framework that helps researchers and practitioners approach computer‐aided design for construction systematically. The framework identifies six interactions between design and construction. It is based on frame‐works for design for manufacture and on an analysis of current building practice. Design for manufacture has proven most effective when integrated into a cyclical product development process. The present framework serves as a road map for the building industry to formalize its information flows, to integrate design for construction into its linear facility delivery process and to approach a more cyclical delivery process.

A marked characteristic of rubber‐like materials is the nearly incompressible behaviour. This type of behaviour is best modelled by mixed finite elements with separate interpolation functions for the displacements and the pressure. In this contribution the performance of three‐dimensional elements is investigated using a two‐tiered strategy. First, the ability of some linear and quadratic three‐dimensional elements to deform correctly under nearly isochoric conditions is estimated using the well‐known constraint‐counting method, in which the ratio of the number of degrees‐of‐freedom over the number of kinematic constraints present in the finite element mesh is determined. Next, the performance of the elements is assessed by numerical simulations for three cuboidal rubber blocks with different shape factors. The results turn out to be quite sensitive with respect to the ratio of the number of degrees‐of‐freedom over the number of kinematic constraints, since too many pressure degrees‐of‐freedom make the element overstiff, while too few pressure degrees‐of‐freedom may cause the occurrence of spurious kinematic modes. This observation appears to be not only valid for the global structural behaviour, but also with respect to the specific parts in the structure, where the above‐mentioned ratio is different from the global number, e.g., in corners of the structure.

The study of succession effects on organizational performance has resulted in findings ambiguous at best. Succession has been found to have positive, negative and neutral impacts on a variety of outcome measures. While most studies have focused on performance outcomes, an alternative research approach is to examine the sense making experience of members of the organization during succession to better understand the process and its impact on participants. The paper reports the personal sense making experience of a successor to the principalship, adding to the literature exploring other participants' views. The successor found that the validation of her legitimacy as a new leader led to actions on the part of organizational members and the attribution of positive observed results to her principalship. Further exploration of attribution as a causal factor rather than as rationalization for unexplained outcomes is proposed. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

This paper presents an organization based information architecture (OBIA) that defines a structure for information needed to address the strategic decision process of evaluating and selecting projects to pursue. The project evaluation process requires information that has not been well defined by project specific information structures developed in previous information modelling efforts. The information in the OBIA is separated into five main categories: organization, commitment, process, environment, and facility. The OBIA categories were identified through expert interviews. The model was then evaluated through a detailed analysis of 10 project case studies. Each case study focused on the evaluation of a particular project from one organization's perspective. A method of applying the model to analyse projects is presented. The structure is also believed to be applicable for other strategic decision types including strategic planning and market selection.

Purpose: This chapter addresses four primary objectives: evaluating current multinational heritage conservation initiatives, analyzing motivations behind corporate involvement, assessing the challenges, and introducing a Framework for Heritage Conservation as CSR Strategy (FHCCS).

Design/methodology/approach: This research can be categorized as conceptual research. Thematic content analysis has been performed on the data retrieved from 47 papers which were screened and acquired from various academic search engines.

Findings: This chapter revealed that multinational companies engage in heritage conservation initiatives as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies, yielding benefits for both heritage sites and surrounding communities. Key motivations include enhancing corporate reputation, stakeholder relations, and long-term sustainability, with the FHCCS offering guidance for policymakers and practitioners.

Research limitations/implications: This chapter aims to provide insights for policymakers, academics, and practitioners, facilitating informed decision-making and enhancing the integration of heritage conservation into CSR strategies on a global scale.

Originality/value: The work tries to fill the research gap in understanding the integration of heritage conservation within CSR frameworks.

This study aims at improving the constructability of design solutions by inte grating site construction problems, which are related to the design, with the design's main functions. A full process analysis was carried out on the design functions of concrete framed office buildings whereby site problems were traced back to the relevant design stages. Design processes that significantly contribute to these problems were highlighted, along with their data flows. An object‐oriented analysis (OOA) method was then applied to model those processes. Proceedings through the five major activities of Coad & Yourdon's OOA method, a complete OOA model was developed. This technique has proved to be very effective in producing a well structured data model with the consequence of being easily mapped into an object‐oriented development environment. An integrated object‐oriented system was also developed, which attempts to use essential design information, at an early stage of the design process, to improve the constructability of the design.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on how representative the literature is in identifying industrial practice to designing product‐service systems (PSSs).

The paper analyses literature to report on the existing approaches used to design PSSs. A single exploratory case study approach, based on semi‐structured interviews and archival data analysis, was used to understand an existing product‐service organisation's approach to designing PSSs. A total of 12 senior managers were interviewed from a cross section of the organisation, to gain multiple perspectives on the PSS design process and ten company reports were analysed.

The research has identified that the PSS design process reported by literature is not representative, lacking inputs and outputs to some phases and feedback. In total, 18 inputs and 11 outputs have been identified from the case study that are not reported by the literature. These create five feedback loops within the PSS design process used by the case study organisation. This suggests that the PSS design process is cyclic and iterative and not sequential, as reported by existing literature.

This research is based on a single‐case study approach, limiting the ability to generalise findings, and does not provide a complete PSS design approach.

This research compares literature against industrial practice to PSS design, presenting insight to aid practitioner's design PSSs.

This paper fills a gap in the servitization and PSS literatures; evaluating the approaches reported by literature against existing industrial practice.