At the crossroads of various disciplines, this collective work examines the possibility of a new end-user “engagement” in ongoing digital/technological products and services development. It provides an overview of recent research specifically focused on the user’s democratic participation and empowerment. It also enables readers to better identify the main opportunities of participatory d…
Now that supply chain operations are facing new challenges due to the necessity of reducing costs and CO2 emissions, companies are increasingly leveraging cooperation from companies from other supply chains as a source of competitive advantage. Horizontal Collaboration has been proved an efficient tool for cutting logistic costs up to 49%. Zaragoza Logistics Center, member of the MIT-Scale N…
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed conference proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on Business Intelligence for the Real-Time Enterprise, BIRTE 2013, held in Riva del Garda, Italy, in August 2013 and of the 8th International Workshop on Business Intelligence for the Real-Time Enterprise, BIRTE 2014, held in Hangzhou, China, in September 2014, in conjunction with VLDB 2013 an…
In this book, a number of long-term energy scenarios are developed for Nigeria considering the impact of vital factors that may influence energy policies in the country’s future energy system. The energy scenarios were developed through the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) model. The model identified the future energy demand and supply pattern using a least-cost combinati…
This volume provides a systematic framework for energy suppliers, policy makers, academics, students, and all others interested in energy security, and analyzes key issues concerning energy, security and sustainability with the help of a wealth of data. While sustainability is the broadest objective, energy security is an important part of it, at the global, national and societal levels. The de…
In view of the increasing quest for environmental management in businesses, this book provides a good reference to firms to understand how they may manage their supply chains to improve business and environmental performance. The book consists of six chapters covering such topics as environmental management, environmental management practices with supply chain efforts, collaborative environment…
Compared to the conventional Rankine cycle using water, the ORC can create efficient expansion at low power, avoid superheater and offer higher thermal efficiency in low temperature application. Small-scale ORCs from several kWe to a few hundred kWe offer great potential for meeting the residential demand on heat and power, and are of growing interest in scientific and technical fields. Howeve…
Examining the challenges of integrated management, this book explores the importance and potential benefits of using an integrated approach as a cross-functional concept of management. It covers not only standardized management systems (e.g. International Organization for Standardization), but also models of self-assessment, as well as different types of integration. Furthermore, it demonstrate…
Nadine Scholz shows that crowdfunding potentially shortens the development cycle of new products, thus enabling an earlier market entry. Hence, crowdfunding serves as a multifaceted early-stage support instrument for innovation implementation facilitated by the crowd's resources. It not only provides upfront cash for product development and production, more importantly it enables a firm to show…
Nadine Scholz shows that crowdfunding potentially shortens the development cycle of new products, thus enabling an earlier market entry. Hence, crowdfunding serves as a multifaceted early-stage support instrument for innovation implementation facilitated by the crowd's resources. It not only provides upfront cash for product development and production, more importantly it enables a firm to show…