218 research outputs found
Agent-based modelling of user engagement in new product development
No full textIntertwining users’ engagement with the development of new products is becoming increasingly important for improving the products’ performance. Therefore, a method to model the dynamics of collective user engagement is essential. This paper proposes a method to model the dynamics of collective user engagement in new product development using agent-based simulation. The model integrates an indirect engagement process – in which users exchange information and knowledge, draw from past experiences, and psychologically invest in the product – with a direct engagement process – in which users interact with the product and the firm to contribute. We demonstrate how the model can be calibrated using a consumer survey. Our findings reveal an overall increase in user engagement, characterised by nonlinear growth during the idea and design stages, followed by a relatively steady increase during the test stage. Moreover, our study identifies the significance of various factors, such as social network parameters, past experience, product connection, and match degree, in shaping user engagement in new product development. This research provides a systematic approach to model user engagement within the context of new product development. It also offers practical implications that can guide management decisions in effectively engaging with users during new product development.<br/
The pathogen construct in risk analysis
No full textProject risk analysis has traditionally emphasized the analysis of external threats. Here we argue that internal decisions and structures are more fundamental, because they determine which external events pose risks to project management. A “pathogen” metaphor is used to understand these internal sources of risk, in an analysis of failure in two sets of projects that lie on the border between the private and public sectors. This analysis goes beyond earlier work on organizational pathogens by treating them as subjective interpretations, not objective conditions. The study suggests that the more insidious risks to which a project is exposed involve different project members holding contradictory beliefs about what is pathogenic and what is protective
Practices and problems in the management of risk redisributions
No full textThe redistribution of risk across social groups is an important aspect of risk analysis. This article argues for a more general concept of risk redistribution across any significant categorisation, however, not just social groups. This includes the redistribution of risk across different kinds of harm, different kinds of failure mode and so on. These redistributions are connected by the way in which they all somehow threaten coping capacities that are adapted to specific past distributions: for example redistributions across failure modes threaten technological and organisational risk controls, whereas redistributions across social groups can threaten notions of fairness and social order. The purpose of the study described here was to investigate this general concept of risk redistribution as a managerial problem. It involved interviews with regulatory and consultancy staff, predominantly in offshore, maritime and railroad operations. These indicated that redistribution was a ubiquitous outcome of activity – and not one confined to discontinuous changes in technology or organisation. Yet, the management of this redistribution was not strongly institutionalised. It was mostly not embodied as an important concept in regulations, codes and procedures and it was not a product of risk assessment processes. But there was a considerable sensitivity to how both technological change and the practice of risk management itself produced redistributions, and extensive efforts were often made to deal with them in the informal domain
On the role of latent design conditions in cyber-physical systems security
No full textAs cyber-physical systems (CPS) become prevalent in everyday life, it is critical to understand the factors that may impact the security of such systems. In this paper, we present insights from an initial study of historical security incidents to analyse such factors for a particular class of CPS: industrial control systems (ICS). Our study challenges the usual tendency to blame human fallibility or resort to simple explanations for what are often complex issues that lead to a security incident. We highlight that (i) perception errors are key in such incidents (ii) latent design conditions -- e.g., improper specifications of a system's borders and capabilities -- play a fundamental role in shaping perceptions, leading to security issues. Such design-time considerations are particularly critical for ICS, the life-cycle of which is usually measured in decades. Based on this analysis, we discuss how key characteristics of future smart CPS in such industrial settings can pose further challenges with regards to tackling latent design flaws
Mending Canada's Employment Insurance Quilt: The Case for Restoring Equity
No full textUnder the current Employment Insurance (EI) system, long-lasting EI benefits are more easily accessed in regions with high unemployment rates than in regions with low unemployment rates where workers face tighter restrictions to access short-lived benefits. This complicated screening procedure, intended to better support the various circumstances facing unemployed workers across the country, creates a number of undesirable consequences: the most glaring being pockets of high, chronic unemployment. The goals and intentions of the EI regime should be simplified to better address the needs of Canada’s unemployed workers.Social Policy, Canada, employment insurance (EI), EI reforms
Mobile Press-Register sleeve MP0089672
No full textBaldwin court juror William Davis getting coffee / County commission candidate - Jerry Aplin / (Bay Minette
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No full textJerry Sweet, John Ryan, Joe Godwin, antizoning [anti-zoning] meeting / (Summerdale
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No full textBaldwin County High School basketball coach Tony Myrick / Players James Caldwell, Jerry Martin, Holmes Hendrickson / (Bay Minette
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No full textOutstanding Carrier boys / Will Stubbs / Bill Green / Mike Johnson / Wayne Busby / Mike Stewart / Keith Cornelius / Tommy Higginbotham / Doug Foust / [Work order included
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