Ganesh L S

Systems and their environments must be understood in an integrated manner because any changes in the systems will affect their environments and vice versa in the ubiquitous open systems. Existing studies classify systems based on the diversity of their interactions and the systems' responses to changes in their environments. However, the uses of such classifications are limited. We attempt to address this limitation by using morphological analysis (MA) to identify, represent and characterise the general system–environment complex (SEC) and its components. The latter, called ‘dimensions’, and their respective manifestations, termed ‘variants’, are integrated into the MA representation to enable a holistic understanding of SECs in terms of six dimensions and 101 variants. The resultant representation and characterisation will help researchers identify potential research opportunities, demonstrated through the construction of a variants intersection matrix, and help develop practical principles for system design and evaluation.

Purpose: The growth, diversity and applications of research into dynamic capabilities (DCs) have resulted in the whole literature on DCs becoming a complex and disconnected body of knowledge. This has led to criticisms of the subject of DCs as being vague, tautological and without practical value. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to synthesize the diverse scholarly literature about DCs and develop a more integrated understanding to minimize the reported apparent vagueness. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors review various relevant themes on DCs using a selection of 133 articles published in 22 recognized, top-tier management journals during the period between 1990 and 2016, with an aim to build a structured and integrated theory. For this, morphological analysis (MA), a systems-thinking technique, is applied. Findings: MA is applied to develop a multi-dimensional conceptual framework comprising five dimensions and 26 variants that enable a structured representation of the conceptual foundations of DCs. Further, the authors identify 81 individual DCs noted by various scholars; elucidate assumptions and antecedents relevant to the DCs approach; structure the key characteristics; and expound the input factors, impacting factors, desired outcomes and assessment yardsticks. Research limitations/implications: This would be a useful resource for researchers working in the area of DCs to explore opportunities for future research. Practical implications: The MA framework helps managers to look at DCs more holistically, and hence would help them in developing, managing and retaining DCs in organizations. Originality/value: This study is the original work contributed by the authors and has no specific organizational reference. This research implies new directions to look beyond individual DCs in firms toward a more integrated theory building.

Energy resource allocation presents a multi-criteria decision making problem with the criteria being quantitative and/or qualitative. Solving such a problem requires an integrated approach. In this paper, an integrated model using goal programming and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been developed for energy resource allocation. It incorporates nine quantitative and three qualitative criteria. The model has been applied to the household sector of Madras, India. A detailed sensitivity analysis has also been carried out. Three additional scenarios have been developed. Use of the model suggested: natural gas, fuelwood and solar thermal for cooking; biogas and electricity generated from fuelwood for water pumping; and all decentralized electricity generation technologies for lighting and operating household appliances. Grid electricity was perferred only for lighting. © 1995.

Over the years, many private sector participation (PSP) models have been evolved for infrastructure procurement and the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model is one of the most common approaches used for the same. Private infrastructure projects under BOT arrangement have a complex risk profile and to a considerable extent, the success of any BOT project is influenced by the degree to which various project risks are managed. The major steps involved in risk management of a project are risk identification, risk assessment and the processes of prioritization and response to the risks. The conventional risk assessment approaches may not be effective in privatized infrastructure projects because of the fact that, they have very long project lifecycle with many country and sector specific risk factors. The assessment of complex risks is often a difficult task when past data on similar risks are not available. In this research, a risk probability and impact assessment framework based on fuzzy-fault tree and the Delphi method is proposed. The framework includes extensive scenario modelling of critical risks in projects and systematic processing of professional judgement (subjective knowledge) of experts and is developed and demonstrated in the context of critical risks in Indian BOT road projects. Detailed scenario modelling of most critical risks such as traffic revenue risk, delay in land acquisition, demand risk and delay in financial closure are also presented. The proposed risk assessment framework is generic and can be applied with appropriate modifications to suit any complex developmental project where past data is inadequate for risk assessment. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.

Though it is well established that coastal zones are development sensitive with its variety of resources and multiple stakeholder presence, (Clark.J.R. 1997) there is no holistic metric to measure this sensitivity. This paper encapsulates the outcome of a doctoral level work to evolve a set of indicators named Coastal zone Health Indicators (CHIs) as metric for this purpose. CHI looks upon a coast as composed of its 6 core component environments and coastal zone health is holistically reflected by the value of critical parameters pertaining to specific component environments. CHIs are developed based on an extensive nation wide experts' survey conducted across major coastal cities in India. Though the study is confined to experts chosen from Coastal cities of India, the generic framework it evolves is globally valid. Analytical Hierarchical Processing (AHP) based weightages of parameters as extracted from the expert survey are used in these models. The paper covers the conceptual basis and methodology of developing CHI. With a CHI map in place for a coastal city, constantly monitoring and evaluating CHI variations against set goals provide valuable feedback on the implementation efficiency of ICZM process. It also helps in analysing future landuse allocations for their impacts on the CHI profile. This practice ensures landuse planning to be a meaningful exercise always tested for synergy with ICZM measures and thus ensuring sustainability in the long run.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how knowledge transfer between individuals influences performance in product development (PD) organizations and whether this influence is contingent to the degree of novelty in the PD work. Design/methodology/approach: A set of hypotheses describing the relationships between knowledge transfer by codification (KTC), knowledge transfer by personalization (KTP) and performance is developed. It is hypothesized that performance decreases when KTC interacts with novelty, but improves when KTP and novelty interact. Survey-based data were collected from 287 knowledge workers across 19 PD units of Indian manufacturing companies, and multiple regression analyses were performed to test the hypotheses. Findings: Of the eight hypotheses stated, only one was supported by the data. KTP significantly influences the efficiency of PD work, highlighting the relative importance of personalized, as compared to repository-based, knowledge transfer to performance. No significant interaction effects of KTC/KTP with novelty were detected. Practical implications: The findings strongly suggest that PD work can benefit from interpersonal relationships and knowledge exchange, something that requires diligent cultural interventions. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, the contingent effects of novelty on the productivity of inter-individual knowledge transfer have received little, if any, attention to date. This study helps improve understanding of the nature of knowledge transfer that is best suited where the nature of work involves creativity. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

User-centric, localized energy and comfort management solutions that are essential in commercial buildings are realized by IoT enabled building management systems, involving networked sensors and artificial intelligence-based data processing. This paper employs the Delphi method to identify the major issues concerning IoT adoption in India and examines these across the value chain, specific to energy and comfort management in intelligent buildings. The Delphi exercise involved 3 expert-panels, consisting of a total of 24 subject matter experts representing all important stakeholders across the intelligent building value chain. A total of 140 issues have been identified, grouped across 8 themes, and ranked, leading to the development of an ‘IoT adoption index’. A subset of the issues has been identified using two inputs from the literature, viz., key performance indicators of intelligent buildings and the business model canvas. The results can be practically used by the stakeholders while evaluating IoT systems for deployment in their projects. Further, the results should be useful in the context of intelligent buildings also in other emerging economies having similar climatic conditions.

The aim of this study is to explore the practical application of Lean with Six Sigma and Agile to create a powerful, synergetic and novel process improvement (PI) method. Going beyond the traditional definitions of Lean, we establish a Factory Physics view of PI which doesn't technically discriminate Lean from non-Lean. We apply a design science approach to help a global bank deploy a continuous process improvement program. By reviewing the literature on PI, we recognize Lean additives viz., Lean Six Sigma and Lean Agile, when synergized, help overcome the limitations of individual PI practices. Our design takes its roots from Factory Physics (FP) and emerges as a novel model synthesizing the theoretical lens of FP with Lean additives for field application. Besides the design of ‘Lean Additives Program’, we deployed the model in several iterations, and studied its performance over a three-year period. The improved system exhibited high levels of efficiency and effectiveness. The longitudinal case evidence demonstrates that Lean additives offer both operational and strategic benefits in firms.

Sustainability integration in the processes of managing and delivering projects is essential to ensure the sustainability of the projects and that of the assets created. This research synthesises over two decades of published research on sustainability integration in management of construction projects (SIMCP). A three stage research process is used for searching and shortlisting, systematically reviewing, and Morphological Analysis (MA) of 130 selected journal articles. The use of MA here, perhaps the first such attempt in sustainable construction literature, has enabled compact tabular-visual representation of the large body of knowledge on SIMCP by categorising it under 7 dimensions, viz., Motivations, Stakeholder Orientation, Organizational Context, Temporal Orientation, Benefits, Barriers, and Risks, and 31 variants. MA has confirmed significant future research scope and revealed at least 236 specific research gaps. The study has significant implications for practitioners and academicians. While the former can use it to understand the state-of-the-art in SIMCP, the latter can utilize the identified gaps to decide their future lines of academic and intellectual inquiries.

Traditional models for project management have not adequately incorporated a number of factors that are important for resource allocation. This paper describes the use of Petri nets to facilitate resource allocation in projects under some conditions commonly encountered in practice. Petri nets provide a powerful formalism for representing and analyzing concurrent systems. To date, however, very little has been done to integrate this graphical and mathematical tool with the area of project management. Petri net models can be used to analyze interdependencies, criticality, substitution, conflicting resource priorities, and variations in the availability of resources. This paper proposes a new model and demonstrates the usefulness of the model for real-time activity scheduling in a resource-constrained project environment. The model has been computerized using C language, and a simple project is chosen as an example to provide step-by-step explanations of the simulation carried out. This paper also discusses the implications of the model and the analysis it supports. © 1998 IEEE.