Blockchain and Other Emerging Technologies for Digital Business Strategies
Aims to explore the aspects of strategic leadership in a digital context together with the cyber-physical relationships whilst performing business activities. Furthermore, this book looks to investigate the interactions from both the organization strategy including the cross-functional actors/stakeholders whom are operating within the organization and the various characteristics of operating in a cyber secure ecosystem.
Big Data in Energy Economics
Combines energy economics and big data modeling analysis in energy conversion and management and comprehensively introduces the relevant theories, key technologies, and application examples of the smart energy economy. With the help of time series big data modeling results, energy economy managers develop reasonable and feasible pricing mechanisms of electricity price and improve the absorption capacity of the power grid. In addition, they also carry out scientific power equipment scheduling and cost–benefit analysis according to the results of data mining, so as to avoid the loss caused by accidental damage of equipment. Energy users adjust their power consumption behavior through the modeling results provided and achieve the effect of energy saving and emission reduction while reasonably reducing the electricity expenditure.
Becoming virtual : Knowledge management and transformation of the distributed organization
This book examines the capabilities needed to transform a globally distributed organization into a virtual organization (an organization that exists and operates across time and distance with the support of global communications technologies such as the Internet). It introduces techniques for definition of goals for virtualization, for monitoring progress toward virtualization and for studying the impact of virtualization on social uncertainty, knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer, organizational memory, transactive memory, communities of practice and organizational commitment, power and control. These techniques are applied in an extended case study of a development aid organization's attempts to use knowledge management for virtualization over a two year period. The multidisciplinary team of authors examines virtualization from points of view ranging from the organizational to the technological to the sociological and psychological.
Artificiality and sustainability in entrepreneurship : Exploring the unforeseen, and paving the way to a sustainable future
Explores the past, present, and future of artificiality and sustainability in entrepreneurship – the unforeseen consequences and ways to advance to a sustainable future. In particular, it connects artificiality, sustainability and entrepreneurship, intertwining artificial with the specific phenomenon of those novel digital technologies that provoke continuous and significant change in our lives and business. Unlike digital entrepreneurship research, which focuses on digital technology development and management, this book covers processes and mechanisms of sustainable adaptability of entrepreneurs, the business logic of start-ups, and the collaborative behaviours under the mass digital transformation, including the prevalence of artificial intelligence. Some of the questions that this book answers are as follows: How has entrepreneurship reacted to such challenges previously? What lessons have been learned and need to be carried forward? How can entrepreneurship and the artefacts of entrepreneurship respond to current challenges? What should be the mindset of the entrepreneur to assure sustainable adaptation? How to embrace and embed the new business logic?
Antecedents of venture firms' internationalization : A conjoint analysis of international entrepreneurship in the net economy
With the continuing dispersion of the global digital network and performance improvements of information and communication technologies, resource-poor start-ups with online business models have emerged in large numbers. These firms are able to deploy their competitive advantages across their country borders early in their life-cycle and engage in international commerce at a fast pace. An increased immediacy between the firms and the globally accessible customer is observed. Julia Christofor’s study aims to analyze the conditions of the initial internationalization decision in the Net Economy. Based on Information Systems, International Entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurship literature, factors, which constitute the internationalization propensity, are derived. The results of this study suggest that a holistic perspective including the founder, business model and the firm level should be considered when explaining the internationalization propensity of entrepreneurs.
Agent-Based Models of Energy Investment Decisions
This book demonstrates how bounded rational decision models can be standardized and parameterized by socio-economic data. Focusing on private energy technology investment decisions, the author shows how different representative agents can be constructed using search rules, analysis tools and decision strategies. Diffusion curves for energy technologies such as solar collectors, boilers and efficiency upgrades for buildings are calculated. Further, the model is extended to study the impact of firms’ competition on technology diffusion. The modeling approach presented in this book may serve as a template for applications in other domain.
50 Years of EU Economic Dynamics : Integration, Financial Markets and Innovations
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the European Union experts present their analyses of historical developments and new economic challenges for the EU. After a reflection on historical dynamics, the contributors point out the dramatic economic shifts between Europe, Asia and the US. Representatives from major central banks (including the ECB), other leading banks, and academia analyze the dynamics of the Eurozone and financial market integration in the context of globalization and economic growth. Furthermore, the authors discuss the challenges of information and communication technologies by means of various country analyses. Moreover, the Schumpeterian prospects for Europe and the Lisbon Agenda, the long-term challenges of EU pension reforms, emission trading systems in the EU, and options for a new EU constitution are highlighted. At the bottom line of this EU analysis are major implications for investors, managers, policy-makers and the public at large in both the EU and the global economy.
Low impact building : Housing using renewable materials
Guides to the designs, technologies and materials that really make green buildings work will help architects, specifiers and clients make informed choices, based on reliable technical information. Low Impact Building: Housing using Renewable Materials is about changing the way we build houses to reduce their 'carbon' footprint and to minimise environmental damage. One of the ways this can be done is by reducing the energy and environmental impact of the materials and resources used to construct buildings by choosing alternative products and systems. In particular, we need to recognise the potential for using natural and renewable construction materials as a way to reduce both carbon emissions but also build in a more benign and healthy way.
Bioclimatic housing : Innovative designs for warm climates
In the search for sustainable architecture, there is growing interest in the relationship between nature and design. In this context, Bioclimatic Housing covers creative, vernacular architecture to present both the theory and practice of innovative, low-energy architecture.The book interweaves the themes of social progress, technological fixes and industry transformation within a discussion of global and country trends, climate types, solutions and technologies. this is a truly international and authoritative work, providing an essential primer for building designers, builders, developers and advanced students in architecture and engineering.
Building Surveys
A trusted guide for both students and professionals for nearly 40 years, evolving to address the challenges and responsibilities of the building surveying role. It covers everything needed for initial inspections such as equipment, know-how and procedures to writing an accurate report. This updated edition features new material on modern methods of construction, new sustainable materials, new surveying technologies, and industry developments in the wake of the Grenfell Fire. Essential reading for building construction students, professional surveyors, and others who may be required to inspect and report on buildings
Architecture and design for industry 4.0 : Theory and practice
The book is structured into three sections (research, practice, and technologies), with the goal of creating a new framework useful for widespread awareness necessary to initiate technology transfer processes for the benefit of the public sector, universities, research centers, and innovative companies, and a new professional figure capable of controlling the entire process is essential. Thus, the book chapters arouse a series of relevant topics such as computational and parametric design, performance-based architecture, data-driven design strategies, parametric environmental design and analysis, computational and parametric structural design and analysis
Mathematical Models for Registration and Applications to Medical Imaging
Image registration is an emerging topic in image processing with many applications in medical imaging, picture and movie processing. The classical problem of image registration is concerned with ?nding an appropriate transformation between two data sets. This fuzzy de?nition of registration requires a mathematical modeling and in particular a mathematical speci?cation of the terms appropriate transformations and correlation between data sets. Depending on the type of application, typically Euler, rigid, plastic, elastic deformations are considered. The variety of similarity p measures ranges from a simpleL distance between the pixel values of the data to mutual information or entropy distances. This goal of this book is to highlight by some experts in industry and medicine relevant and emerging image registration applications and to show new emerging mathematical technologies in these areas. Currently, many registration application are solved based on variational prin- ple requiring sophisticated analysis, such as calculus of variations and the theory of partial differential equations, to name but a few. Due to the numerical compl- ity of registration problems ef?cient numerical realization are required. Concepts like multi-level solver for partial differential equations, non-convex optimization, and so on play an important role. Mathematical and numerical issues in the area of registration are discussed by some of the experts in this volume.
Materials for Springs
“Materials for springs” is basically intended for engineers related to spring materials and technologies who graduated from metallurgical or mechanical engineering courses in technical high school, or in other higher engineering schools, as well as those who are related to the purchase or sales of spring materials. The first chapter introduces into the fundamental selection processes of spring materials including the information sources on materials database. It is followed by the basic mechanisms and theories of spring failures such as fatigue fracture, creep/stress relaxation and stress corrosion cracking of metallic materials.
Map-based Mobile Services : Theories, Methods and Implementations
Divided into three parts - theory, method and implementation, this book starts with a summary of the state-of-the-art in mobile technologies. It also introduces a conceptual framework of mobile cartography with the emphasis on mobile usage context. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM which contains the PDF-Files in colour.
Manufacturing Systems : Theory and Practice
The book has six chapters that have been arranged according to the sequence used when creating and operating a manufacturing system. Thus, the subjects emphasised are: the decision framework for manufacturing, the manufacturing processes, the manufacturing equipment and machine tools, the design for manufacturing and the operation of manufacturing systems. The book attempts a compromise between theory and practice in all addressed manufacturing systems issues, covering a long spectrum of issues from traditional manufacturing processes to innovative technologies such as Virtual Reality, Nanotechnology and Rapid Prototyping.
Managing the Complexity of Critical Infrastructures : A Modelling and Simulation Approach
This book summarizes work being pursued in the context of the CIPRNet (Critical Infrastructure Preparedness and Resilience Research Network) research project, co-funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The project is intended to provide concrete and on-going support to the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) research communities, enhancing their preparedness for CI-related emergencies, while also providing expertise and technologies for other stakeholders to promote their understanding and mitigation of the consequences of CI disruptions, leading to enhanced resilience.
Managing Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno Innovations : Converging Technologies in Society
Tremendous human progress is becoming possible through the development of converging technologies stimulated by advances in four core fields: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology Information technology, and new technologies based in Cognitive science (NBIC). This book provides a unique review of technical developments related to the unification that is rapidly taking place today among these fields.
Magneto-Science : Magnetic Field Effects on Materials: Fundamentals and Applications
It is a dream of chemists and physicists to use magnetism, an important physical property of many materials, to control chemical and physical processes. With new manufacturing technologies for superconducting magnets, it has become possible to produce strong magnetic fields of 10 Tesla or more for applications in chemistry and physics. New magnetic phenomena, useful for processing functional molecules with improved quality, have been discovered recently. They open up exciting possibilities for studying and applying magnetic field effects in the chemical and physical processes of diamagnetic, paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials. This volume will serve as a useful reference for specialists and non-specialists interested in this exciting new area of megneto-science.
Magnetic Nanostructures in Modern Technology ; Spintronics, Magnetic MEMS and Recording
A team of outstanding scientists in the field of modern magnetic nanotechnologies illustrates the state of the art in several areas of advanced magneto-electronic devices, magnetic micro-electromechanical systems and high density information storage technologies.The physics and chemistry of nano-scale systems have made rapid advances and there are real prospects of translating exciting scientific findings into a new generation of processes and high technology products with a potential impact on several industrial sectors. In particular the development of nano-structured magnetic materials plays a leading role in the increasing miniaturization of devices with superior performances.
Magnesium Technology : Metallurgy, Design Data, Applications
Magnesium, with a density of 1.74 g/cm², is the lightest structural metal and magnesium are increasingly chosen for weight-critical applications such as in land-based transport systems. "Magnesium Technology" substantially updates and complements existing reference sources on this key material. It assembles international contributions from seven countries covering a wide range of research programs into new alloys with the requisite property profiles, i.e., the current state of both research and technological applications of magnesium. In particular, the international team of authors covers key topics, such as: casting and wrought alloys; fabrication methods; corrosion and protection; engineering requirements and strategies, with examples from the automobile, aerospace, and consumer-goods industries, and recycling.



















