Modified Stage‐Gate® Regimes in New Product Development*

The purpose of this research was to explore the nature of the Stage‐Gate^®process in the context of innovative projects that not only vary in new product technology (i.e., radical versus incremental technology) but that also involve significant new product development technology (i.e., new virtual teaming hardware‐software systems). Results indicate that firms modify their formal development regimes to improve the efficiency of this process while not significantly sacrificing product novelty (i.e., the degree to which new technology is incorporated in the new offering). Four hypotheses were developed and probed using 72 automotive engineering managers involved in supervision of the new product development process. There was substantial evidence to creatively replicate results from previous benchmarking studies; for example, 48.6% of respondents say their companies used a traditional Stage‐Gate^®process, and 60% of these new products were considered to be a commercial success. About a third of respondents said their companies are now using a modified Stage‐Gate^®process for new product development. Auto companies that have modified their Stage‐Gate^®procedures are also significantly more likely to report (1) use of virtual teams; (2) adoption of collaborative and virtual new product development software supporting tools; (3) having formalized strategies in place specifically to guide the new product development process; and (4) having adopted structured processes used to guide the new product development process. It was found that the most significant difference in use of phases or gates in the new product development process with radical new technology occurs when informal and formal phasing processes are compared, with normal Stage‐Gate^®usage scoring highest for technology departures in new products. Modified Stage‐Gate^®had a significant, indirect impact on organizational effectiveness. These findings, taken together, suggest companies optimize trade‐offs between cost and quality after they graduate from more typical stage‐process management to modified regimes. Implications for future research and management of this challenging process are discussed. In general, it was found that the long‐standing goal of 50% reduction in product development time without sacrificing other development goals (e.g., quality, novelty) is finally within practical reach of many firms. Innovative firms are not just those with new products but also those that can modify their formal development process to accelerate change.     

A path model of factors affecting secondary school students’ technological literacy

Technological literacy defines a competitive vision for technology education. Working together with competitive supremacy, technological literacy shapes the actions of technology educators. Rationalised by the dictates of industry, technological literacy was constructed as a product of the marketplace. There are many models that visualise different dimensions of technological literacy, but clear empirical evidence on how these interact is still lacking. A measurement method that comprehensively evaluates technological literacy is missing. Insights into the stem structure and interaction of technological literacy dimensions could be useful for technology education curriculum design and its implementation. In this study, the multifaceted nature of technological literacy was measured using a new assessment method, and dimensions of secondary school students’ technological literacy were empirically investigated. A total of 403 students participated in the quasi-experimental research design. The treatment group consisted of 121 students taught optional subjects relating to technology education. The control group consisted of 282 students. Results from variance analysis showed that optional technology subjects enhance technological literacy, especially students’ technological capacity where a large effect size (η ²  = 0.14) was noted. Results from a path analysis revealed critical thinking and decision-making as the most important dimensions of technological literacy while the predictor of active participation in out-of-school technical activities and technology homework was a key independent influencing factor. A large effect size (R ²  = 0.4) for career path orientation predictors was detected. Technological capacity was revealed as a decisive predictor for a career path in vocational education and technical high school.     

Farm costs and food miles: An assessment of the full cost of the UK weekly food basket

Changes in both farm production and food transport have resulted in the imposition of new levels of environmental costs. This study analyses the full costs of foods in the average weekly UK food basket by calculating the costs arising at different stages from farms to consumers’ plates. Of the 12 commodities assessed, livestock produce contributes the most costs per kg. The external cost of UK agriculture up to the farm gate is estimated to be £1.51 bn yr⁻¹; it is calculated that a switch to organic production could lead to avoided costs of £1.13 bn yr⁻¹. Agricultural and food produce accounts for 28% of goods transported on UK roads, currently imposing estimated external costs of £2.35 bn yr⁻¹. The contribution made by sea and air transport is currently trivial owing to low volumes. However, road transport to carry food from the shop to home is estimated to impose a further £1.28 bn yr⁻¹ to total external costs. Subsidies not targeted at environmental improvements cost consumers £2.88 bn yr⁻¹. Thus the real cost of the per capita UK food basket (£24.79) is calculated to be £2.91 more per person wk⁻¹ (11.8%) if externalities and subsidies are included, with farm externalities (81 p), domestic road transport (76 p), government subsidies (93 p) and shopping transport (41 p) contributing the most. We assess a variety of scenarios for adoption of organic farming, localised food systems and sustainable transport to indicate the substantial potential to reduce environmental costs in the UK food system.     

一种优化K-means聚类的舌苔舌质分离方法

为了解决传统K-means聚类算法对舌图像中舌苔舌质分离效果不稳定的问题,提出了一种优化K-means聚类的舌苔舌质分离模型。模型综合RGB,HSV,L^*a^*b^* 3种颜色空间的特性,将单通道舌图像像素作为聚类样本集合,以一定的规则从集合中选取2个舌图像通道的像素作为聚类样本,并利用单通道舌图像分布直方图的峰值确定初始聚类中心点,最后通过聚类实现舌苔舌质分离。实验结果表明,选择用双通道舌图像作为聚类样本比用三通道或者单通道舌图像聚类效果更优,且提出的初始聚类中心点的确定方法相比于传统K-means聚类算法更准确、稳定地使舌苔舌质分离。所提方法可以很好地实现舌苔舌质分离,为中医舌诊客观化的研究提供了新的方法和思路,具有一定的实用价值。     

Role of formal standards in transition to the technology frontier: Korean ICT systems

According to traditional wisdom, latecomer countries improve their technological capabilities in reverse of the product cycle, that is from mature towards new technologies. However, improvement of standards capabilities in this process has not been revealed clearly. This paper confirms similar patterns for improving formal standards capabilities as for the technological capabilities, but records some possible differences in the rate of catch-up when latecomers approach the technology frontier; a forward moving position where technology leaders (typically advanced countries) develop or conceptualize new technologies before being turned into products or systems. A number of case studies of South Korean ICT systems reveal that transition to the technological frontier is increasingly related to how they target and carry out formal standardization. The common elements driving differences in rates of successful catch-up for ICT systems standards are not only limited to generic standards capabilities, but also rely on characteristics of technology trajectories, national strategic focus, and organizing for standardization.³ This implies that a nation should not be discouraged by slow progress in standards-setting during earlier stages. Once a minimum level of capabilities is achieved, a nation pro-active in standards from the beginning may attain higher rates of catch-up near the technology frontier.     

Grains — more or better storage?

From time to time attention is directed to startling losses in livestock and crops caused by parasites and diseases, many of which occur during storage.¹ It is important that the losses be reduced. Reduction of losses in storage in particular: (a) makes more food available from a given amount produced; (b) makes more of it available for the poor, who suffer most from shortages; and (c) makes it available at the time of greatest scarcity, before the next production season or harvest.² It is, however, equally important that resources should not be wasted in misguided efforts to reduce waste. In the normal condition of cruelly restricted resources, these should be used to reduce waste only if the return in doing so is as good as, or better than, in other activities.     

滏阳河邯郸段CODCr降解系数研究

降解系数的确定是水环境容量核算的关键因素。通过现场水团追踪实验,采用一维稳态水质模型进行参数率定;同时进行了室内模拟研究,运用最小二乘法进行回归计算,综合考虑2种方法测定结果,得到滏阳河邯郸段枯水期CODCr降解系数为0.152~0.270d-1;平水期CODCr降解系数为0.209~0.384d-1;丰水期CODCr降解系数为0.215~0.437d-1。     

?konometrische Analyse der Temperaturvariabilit?t

This paper aims at analysing temperature fluctuations by applying an econometric methodology. To this end a physically founded macroclimate model is suggested for individual examinations of the climate forcing of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and other greenhouse gases as well as of the cooling effect of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) since 1880 and for a comparison of their impacts. The autoregressive process in the temperature anomalies is analysed, and a cointegration analysis is carried out to show that a long-term causal interrelation can be derived from the stochastic trend variables considered. However, this interrelation is not unique. It turns out that anthropogenic factors and total solar irradiance determine the warming trend in the period 1880 to 2005, whilst the remaining natural factors explain a part of the deviation from this trend. With 42?% the autoregressive process in the anomalies has a considerable impact on the temperature increase. Climate sensitivity amounting to 0.11 (K?m²)/W therefore is comparatively low. If the share of the autoregressive process is allocated to each regressor individually CO₂ has an impact of 65?%. The SO₂ emissions have a significant cooling effect, neutralizing 45?% of the climate forcing of CO₂. The non-CO₂ greenhouse gases contribute 55?% to the temperature increase and hence more than the net effect of CO₂ and SO₂ of 36?%. Hence, the sensitivity of the climate with regard to these greenhouse gases is very high. When applying accelerated mitigation measures with respect to non-CO₂ greenhouse gases it is possible to reach the 2^° target without decarbonisation.     

Scheduling multiple robots in a no-wait re-entrant robotic flowshop

No-wait re-entrant robotic flowshops are widely used in the electronic industry, such as PCB and semiconductor manufacturing. In such an industry, cyclic production policy is often used due to large lot size and simplicity of implementation. This paper addresses cyclic scheduling of a no-wait re-entrant robotic flowshop with multiple robots for material handling. We formulate the problem and propose a polynomial algorithm to find the minimum number of robots for all feasible cycle times. Consequently, the minimum cycle time for any given number of robots can be obtained with the proposed algorithm. The algorithm runs in O(N⁵) time in the worst case, where N is the number of machines in the robotic flowshop.     

Lesotho's food priorities

Lesotho is a small independent nation completely surrounded by South Africa. Of its 33000 km², 87% is peaks and high mountain pastures, leaving only one km² of arable land for each 325 people. Low yields on limited arable land leave the country serious food deficit. Production shortfalls are overcome with large commercial imports and substantial concessional food aid. Commercial imports through retail channels are financed by migrant remittances. Nearly half of the male labour force work in South Africa. Their repatriated wages contribute 40% of gross national income and 63% of rural household income.¹ Thus consumer markets are relatively well monetized and 55% of migrant remittances is spent on food.²     

SAM — a baby with many faces

In the last issue of Food Policy, two articles appeared on the subject of the Mexican Food System, or the Sistema Alimenticio Mexicano (SAM). The first article by Frank Meissner¹ reviewed the background to SAM, the proposed strategies, intended targets, its funding and put forward a strong case for considering SAM as a constructive policy for alleviating Mexico's food and nutrition problems. However, Michael Redclift commented in his article that:² ‘There are three principal points to be made of Dr Meissner's article: its interpretation of Mexico's recent agrarian development is questionable; it does not distinguish between the analysis provided in the SAM documents and the policy measures to which they give rise; and, it glosses over serious problems of implementation, giving too little weight to the participatory element without which SAM is doomed to failure’. This rejoinder is Frank Meissner's response to Michael Redclift's comments.     

Flexibility, Structuration, and Simultaneity in New Product Development

A large body of research has pointed out the need for a contingent approach in the design of new product development processes, highlighting the risk of simply accepting a normative perspective that leads to the identification and diffusion of decontextualized “best practices.” In the literature there are contrasting views regarding the identification of the characteristics of product innovation processes in extremely uncertain and dynamic conditions. Some studies propose a fascinating dichotomy: the contraposition between flexible processes and Stage‐Gate^® processes. They maintain that Stage‐Gate^® processes are characterized by “early and sharp” product definition and clear separation between concept development and implementation (detail design and production ramp‐up), whereas flexible development models seek to delay the concept freeze point and overlap product development stages going beyond concurrent engineering. Other studies have arrived at seemingly conflicting results; the suitability of the early and sharp product definition approach in turbulent environments is debated without supporting the dichotomy between flexible processes and Stage‐Gate^® processes. Moreover, additional reasons for questioning the contraposition between Stage‐Gate^® and flexible processes come from a series of studies on the management of discontinuous innovation. The aim of the present study was to develop a conceptual framework that can overcome this widely accepted but controversial dichotomy. The framework is based on the recognition of the orthogonality among three analytical dimensions: organizational, informational, and temporal. The organizational dimension refers to the structuration of the process. The informational dimension deals with classifying the development activities and investigating the firm's product definition approach (early and sharp mode vs. late freeze mode). The temporal dimension relates to the execution strategies of development tasks. The three‐dimensional framework enables us to better understand the complex relationships between the degree of structuration in process design (organizational dimension), the degree of intersection between problem‐formulation and problem‐solving in product definition (informational dimension), and different types of execution strategies (temporal dimension).     

零碳建筑技术路线研究

为实现零碳建筑的零碳排放和超低能耗目标,提出了零碳建筑的技术路线。利用负荷能耗指标作为技术评价标准,以保定市某幼儿园实际工程为例,通过DeST软件模拟,分析了本项目全年负荷变化,冷热负荷指标以及负荷能耗指标,然后通过正交试验与极差分析得出不同影响因素对建筑热负荷的影响程度。结果表明,零碳幼儿园全年累计热负荷指标为61.60 kW·h/m~2,全年累计冷负荷指标为75.99 kW·h/m~2,采暖季热负荷指标为18.36 W/m~2,空调季冷负荷指标为25.76 W/m~2;不同影响因素对建筑热负荷的影响程度从大到小依次为外墙传热系数>人员密度>设备功率>屋顶传热系数,对建筑冷负荷影响程度从大到小依次为人员密度>设备功率>外墙传热系数>屋顶传热系数。零碳建筑技术路线的运用对于降低建筑能耗、实现建筑零碳目标具有重要意义。     

基于不同砂浆类型的围护结构冻融模拟性能研究

为了提升冻融环境下围护墙体的服役性能,以砂浆类型为变量研究冻融条件下围护结构砂浆层的抗冻融性能。分别设计水泥砂浆、聚丙烯纤维砂浆和聚合物砂浆围护结构试件并进行100次冻融循环试验,采用智能弦式应变传感器监测应变变化;并采用顺序耦合热应力分析法建立数值模型模拟冻融循环作用下的温度场和由此产生的应变,进行结果验证。结果表明：经过100次的冻融循环试验,水泥砂浆围护结构的最大应变值超过3.0×10^-4,并产生裂缝;相对于水泥砂浆,聚丙烯纤维砂浆和聚合物砂浆围护结构在冻融循环作用下,峰值应变大幅降低,最大应变值范围在3.0×10^-5~4.0×10^-5,且砂浆层均未开裂,数值模拟结果与试验结果基本一致。研究揭示了不同砂浆类型围护结构在冻融循环过程中病害形成机制,通过在砂浆中掺入聚合物和纤维增强其抗冻融性能,使围护结构在冻融条件下保持良好的服役性能,对提高围护结构耐久性具有重要的工程应用价值和理论意义。     

Cereal shortages and adjustment in the Sahel

In spite of insufficient agricultural and demographic statistics for this region of Africa, several estimates of cereal production per head suggest that the average harvest in these arid zones provides slightly less than the quantity needed for domestic consumption. Alarmed by the drought of 1968–1973 and the resulting famine of 1973,¹ the development agencies questioned the capacity of the Sahel countries to feed their populations. ‘Is self-sufficiency in food a realistic objective?’, asked Robert Hirsch at the Noakchott Colloquium.² Statistical analysis leads to the conclusion that improvement is technically possible, and that the eight countries of CILSS, as a whole, should be able to achieve self-sufficiency in millet, sorghum and maize. However, certain individual countries will not be able to meet domestic needs. Moreover, Hirsch states that urban demand is increasing for corn and rice, which are difficult to produce locally and costly to import. (CILSS is the Comité Inter-états de Lutte contre la Sécheresse au Sahel).     

Technological literacy for students aged 6–18: a new method for holistic measuring of knowledge,capabilities, critical thinking and decision-making

Technological literacy is identified as a vital achievement of technology- and engineering-intensive education. It guides the design of technology and technical components of educational systems and defines competitive employment in technological society. Existing methods for measuring technological literacy are incomplete or complicated, unreliable, unstable and imprecise, time-consuming, and require large expenditures on resources. This paper presents a new method for valid and reliable measuring of technological literacy. The method encompasses three main components—knowledge, capabilities, and critical thinking and decision-making. It is centred on the standards for technological literacy issued by the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association. It has three key features. (1) A construct-measure-result front-ended approach, where a construct consists of an object, attribute, and entity; which causes reduction of measure-induced distortion and error. (2) A broad test range definition that provides stable and accurate measuring of technological literacy for 6–18-year-old students. (3) A genuine design approach including a multiple choice test item form determination consisting of content, criterion and construct validity, item discrimination, difficulty index, and an intraclass correlation measure for time stability and scooping its heterogeneous nature. Only the method is described herein and its pilot test results are presented. It is moderately reliable over time (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.68, p < 0.05), has high criterion-related validity (r _xy  < 0.4) and construct validity (h ² > 0.7). High content validity evidence was ensured through a two-stage validation method, while test item discrimination coefficient values are acceptable (r _pbis  > 0.1). The method is time-efficient (measuring lasts 45 min), valid, stable, and enables holistic investigation of large sample sizes.     

European dietary patterns and their associated land use: Variation between and within countries

This paper determines the cropland use associated with the dietary patterns of 16 European countries and investigates sources of variation in land use between and within these countries. The analysis combines food availability data at the household level with country-specific land use data for food items. The household food availability data is obtained from a standardized and post-harmonized databank, developed in the Data Food Networking Project (DAFNE). The results show large differences between the land use of the 16 European countries, ranging from ±1500 m² (Ireland) to ±3000 m² (Malta) to supply an average person’s food demand. Major reasons for this divergence include disparities in total caloric food availability and in national yields. The composition of the diet is only a minor source of variation. Using food consumption data at the household level makes it also possible to look for sources of variation within countries. This paper investigates sources of variation within countries by examining the influence of education of the household head on land use associated with food consumption. The analysis shows that diets of people with only elementary education need on average 20% more land than diets of people with a higher education (2302 m² and 1948 m², respectively). The basis of this difference is the higher caloric availability for people with only an elementary education; the influence of differences in the composition of the diet is negligible. Variation in land use between countries is thus caused by the different agricultural productivities and caloric availabilities, and the major source of variation within countries is the caloric availability. The composition of the diet is only a minor source of variation, both between and within countries. The results implicate that highly educated people have a lower demand for land.     

TECHNICAL NOTE: THE FORMULA APPROXIMATION FOR THE OPTIMAL CYCLE TIME OF THE NET PRESENT VALUE

This article proposes the best bounds for e^?x ?l+x subject to some constraints. With these bounds for e^?x ?l+x, the better bounds for the optimal cycle time can be developed such that the bisection algorithm locates the optimal cycle time more accurately. Finally, an example is given to illustrate all results obtained by this article.