The aim of the paper is to present an overview of the theoretical basis and stages of the
process of opportunities exploration and exploitation in the development of innovativeness of
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and its preliminary empirical verification on the
basis of experience derived from economic practice. The aim of the paper is realized based
on the author’s own empirical research carried out in the form of a case study conducted
among 5 innovative SME companies in Poland. The results indicate that the analyzed
companies associate opportunities directly with entrepreneurship and the development of
innovative activity. They take various actions that are part of theoretical principles of effective
opportunities exploration and exploitation, which allows them to obtain a number of
pro-innovative benefits and which supports the creation of competitive advantage.
One of the main problem of innovative projects in Russian Federation is the need to assess
the impact of exogenous shocks on their financing and development. The impact of this type
of shock in the period of globalization is sharply increasing. In order to assess the impact of
exogenous shocks on innovative projects we create a model with two stages using the innovate
project of production of water purification plants. The first stage of it is the construction
of a simple model of financial risk, stipulating the conditions when investors will invest in
this firm in the absence of negative shocks, their expectations will depend on their own
confidence in continuing investment at the next stages. This model shows a positive result.
At the second stage we take into account the impact of the negative exogenous shocks on the
project, and try to trace a reaction of companies involved in financing innovative projects.
The results of the project were negative. The investor in this case as a rule can stop financing
and has the risk of losses. In order to prevent this situation we propose to use a real option
for a possible refusal to implement an innovative project in the event that the net present
value after one year of financing will be negative or very small. To our opinion it is one of
the best ways to reduce financial risks during the implementation of innovative projects for
investors.
This study involves the implementation of an economic order quantity (EOQ) model which is
an inventory control method in a ceramic factory. Two different methods were applied for the
calculation of EOQs. The first method is to determine EOQ values using a response surface
method-based approach (RSM). The second method uses conventional EOQ calculations.
To produce a ceramic product, 281 different and additive materials may be used. First,
Pareto (ABC) analysis was performed to determine which of the materials have higher
priority. Because of this analysis, the value of 21 items among 281 different materials and
additives were compared to the ratio of the total product. The ratio was found to be 70.4%
so calculations were made for 21 items. Usage value for every single item for the years 2011,
2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively, were obtained from the company records. Eight different
demand forecasting methods were applied to find the amount of the demand in EOQ. As a
result of forecasting, the EOQ of the items were calculated by establishing a model. Also,
EOQ and RSM calculations for the items were made and both calculation results were
compared to each other. Considering the obtained results, it is understood that RSM can
be used in EOQ calculations rather than the conventional EOQ model. Also, there are big
differences between the EOQ values which were implemented by the company and the values
calculated. Because of this work, the RSM-based EOQ approach can be used to decide on
the EOQ calculations as a way of improving the system performance.
The main focus of this paper is to propose a method for prioritizing knowledge and technology
factor of firms towards sustainable competitive advantage. The data has been gathered
and analyzed from two high tech start-ups in which technology and knowledge play major
role in company’s success. The analytical hierarchy model (AHP) is used to determine competitive
priorities of the firms. Then knowledge and technology part of sense and respond
questionnaire is used to calculate the variability coefficient i.e. the uncertainty caused by
technology and knowledge factor. The proposed model is tested in terms of two start-ups.
Based on the initial calculation of uncertainties, some improvement plan is proposed and
the method is applied again to see if the uncertainty of knowledge and technology decreases.
In both cases, the proposed model helped to have a clear and precise improvement plan and
led in reduction of uncertainty.
In recent years, due to the growing importance of eco-design and tightening EU regulations
entrepreneurs are required to implement activities related to environmental protection. It
influences the development of methods and tools enabling the implementation of eco-design
into practice, which are increasingly used by modern information technologies. They are
based on intelligent solutions that allows them to better match the requirements of designers
and allows for the automation of processes, and in some cases they are able to do the
work themselves, replacing designers. Details are useful in areas that require calculations,
comparisons and making choices, which is the process of eco-design. The paper describes
methodology of pro-ecological product design oriented towards recycling, based on agent
technology, enables the design of environmentally friendly products including recycling. The
description of the methodology was preceded by a literature analysis on the characteristics of
tools supporting eco-design and the process of its development was presented. The proposed
methodology can be used at the design stage of devices to select the best product in terms of
ecology. It is based on the original set of recycling indicators, used to evaluate the recycling
of the product, ensure the ability to operate in a distributed design environment, and the
use of data from various CAD systems, allows full automation of calculations and updates
(without user participation).
Recent rapid developments in information and network technology have profoundly influenced
manufacturing research and its application. However, the product’s functionality and
complexity of the manufacturing environments are intensifying, and organizations need to
sustain the advantage of huge competitiveness in the markets. Hence, collaborative manufacturing,
along with computer-based distributed management, is essential to enable effective
decisions and to increase the market.
A comprehensive literature review of recent and state-of-the-art papers is vital to draw a
framework and to shed light on the future research avenues. In this review paper, the use
of technology and management by means of collaborative and cloud manufacturing process
and big data in networked manufacturing system have been discussed. A systematic review
of research papers is done to draw conclusion and moreover, future research opportunities for
collaborative manufacturing system were highlighted and discussed so that manufacturing
enterprises can take maximum benefit.
Lean manufacturing [LM], quality management system and environmental management
system are clear initiatives with a goal of improving effectiveness and efficiencies of organizations.
Many organisations tackle lean philosophy, ISO standards individually but this
kind of attempt do not focus on the synergy and the advantage from the potential collaboration.
This paper aims to present the possibility of integration Lean Management concept
with ISO management systems – Quality Management System [QMS] ISO 9001and Environmental
Management System [EMS] ISO 14001 already implemented in the enterprises.
The integration of these three concepts can be obtain due to improvement of main KPI’s
defined in the organization. Based on critical research literature and participant observation
presented as a case study (one of the author of the paper works as a consultant
and is being implemented Lean Manufacturing concept in different organization since ten
years) authors defined concept of integration of EMS and QMS (already implemented in
the organization) with chosen Lean Management tools. Concept has been developed based
on literature analysis and experience of the authors. Results and summary from concept
implementation has been described in last chapter of the paper.
An original fuzzy team control model is presented in this article. The model is based on
a non-traditional combination of classical and contemporary achievements of management
and mathematical theories of fuzzy logic and fuzzy sets. In methodological terms, the
article also offers a set of tools for measuring and evaluating both team performance and
the effectiveness of the team control system in the organization. Fuzzy tools and techniques
for decision-making, studying of hidden effects and joint influences, and quantification of
evaluations are employed in this set of tools. The suggested fuzzy model contributes to
overcoming theoretical deficits on the issues of team control, and the methodology of team
control fills a gap in the toolkit of team management. The results from verification of
the fuzzy team control model at a small-sized Bulgarian enterprise are also discussed in
this article. They indicate that it is possible to develop a fuzzy model for team control,
increasing the effectiveness of the team control system in the enterprise.
The purpose of the study is to analyze the opportunities and the challenges associated
with the adoption of Information technology in the Indian SMEs. The significant usage of
Information Technology in the SME sector and the factors that influence the business are
discussed. SME industry in India has shown substantial growth over the past few years. The
implementation of new technologies tends to offer better opportunities to the companies
particularly for SME sector in India. However, there are a few challenges associated with
technology adaptation that needs attention. This research is focused on improved business
quality and responsiveness towards market opportunities while using the latest technologies
available. This study is based on a review of research journals and articles including news
magazines concerning current SME market situation in India. The current market scenario
of Indian SMEs, as well as several policy interventions and new trends in the market were
discussed.
The paradox of enterprise management is the company must continually change in a dynamic
and difficult-to-predict environment in order to achieve business continuity and profitability
goals. The relatively low efficiency and awareness of the need for change at network
organizations means the problems connecting with changes implementation, identification
of conditions limiting their realizations and importance of final results are still significant.
This article described this issue by the diagnosis of current state of the change management
in various types of network organizations and showing how this state can be improved
in the future. Assuming the organization will strive for conscious and organized change
management.
Six Sigma as the continuation of comprehensive quality management TQM is of interest to
many enterprises. Unfortunately, not everybody successfully implements quality improvement
projects using Six Sigma tools. This approach requires proper preparation in many
areas of the company’s operation, including: organization of processes, establishing measures,
employee engagement and creating conditions for continuous improvement. The goal
of the article is to present on the case study the idea of using the organizational maturity
model for production management to assess a readiness of organization to implement Six
Sigma. The case study presents a company maturity level diagnosis and a successful project
of quality and productivity improvement using the Six Sigma concept, confirming that the
organization’s maturity model is the appropriate tool for assessing multi-faceted preparation
for successful implementation of Six Sigma projects.
Tool travel and tool switch planning are the two major issues in hole-making operations of
industrial part which involves drilling, tapping etc. operations. It is necessary to find the
sequence of operations, which minimizes the total non productive time and tool switch time
of hole-making operations depending upon the hole location and the tool sequence to be
followed. In this work, an attempt is made to reduce total non-productive time and tool
switch time of hole-making operations by applying a relatively new algorithm known as
shuffled frog leaping with modification for the determination of optimal sequence of operations.
In order to validate the developed shuffled frog leaping algorithm with modification,
it is applied on six different problems of holes and its obtained results are compared with
dynamic programming (DP), ant colony algorithm (ACO), and immune based evolutionary
approach (IA). In addition, an application example of injection mould is considered in this
work to demonstrate the proposed approach. The result obtained by shuffled frog leaping
algorithm with modification is compared with those obtained using ACO, particle swarm
optimization (PSO) algorithm and IA. It is observed that the results obtained by shuffled
frog leaping algorithm with modification are superior to those obtained using ACO, PSO
and IA for the application example presented.