It is often said that European companies must stop trying to compete on price and concentrate more on developing products and services that offer customers and users a high level of added value. Design is an indispensable tool for such development and innovation, and this is why the findings of this survey are cause for concern. It is not enough to encourage companies to use design; they must also develop skill in managing design. It seems risky to assume that they will eventually find their own way to design and its effective management; as an economic necessity, attention and commitment will be required from those who set business policy. The survey results suggest that improved awareness of design and the management of design will drive increased business performance within SMEs. "is would likely also trigger increased demand for effective support services to develop design management skills, and thus more jobs. One of the study’s findings is the positive correlation between increasing design management capability and positive growth. At the same time, however, cost factors are widely cited as the main obstacle standing in the way of companies implementing design management. What this indicates is that design should cease to be seen as a cost, and instead should be considered as an investment in the future. One way to improve the perception of the cost factor is to raise awareness of design’s benefits. To do this, however, it is critical to find ways to measure and therefore value design effectiveness and, once it has been implemented, to measure its success in a way that can be understood by managers. Knowledge factors also present a considerable obstacle, and as such education is a second critical success factor. "e curricula of European design courses tend to dedicate relatively little time to the development of management skills or the understanding of the business implications of design decisions. And although the attention paid to ideas such as design thinking does show some movement in the world of management, things seem to be happening rather slowly. In management courses, there is still relatively little structural focus on design, and for experienced designersóeven those with sufficient management skillsótraining in design management is rarely available. Indeed, the relative lack of training opportunities for design management begs the question: Are we making enough progress with design management as a professional field? "e gap between design management “winners” and “losers” seems rather large, and the group of companies that is left behind is comparatively too big. Progress has and is being made within the profession of design management; however, to sustain this progress, and even to turn the situation around, will require the collaborative efforts of a broader group of stakeholdersónamely, the design sector, the training and education sector, trade associations, promoters of design management honors such as the DME Award, and government bodies themselves.
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It’s clear that the e$ective management of design is a commercial necessity. It enables a company or organization to innovate, to stay in line with or ahead of the market, and to identify and cater to consumer needs. When design becomes an explicit part of the management process, it can have a greater impact on business performance and help secure a market position for the long term. However, there is growing concern that most European small and medium-size businesses (SMEs) lack su#cient grasp of the role of design and that their focus on its management is still underdeveloped. With the exception of a few small-scale case studies, there has been no substantial research into how European companies handle design. To what extent do they succeed in integrating design into their operational management? What design management skills do they actually have?
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The main question in this PhD thesis is: How can Business Rules Management be configured and valued in organizations? A BRM problem space framework is proposed, existing of service systems, as a solution to the BRM problems. In total 94 vendor documents and approximately 32 hours of semi-structured interviews were analyzed. This analysis revealed nine individual service systems, in casu elicitation, design, verification, validation, deployment, execution, monitor, audit, and version. In the second part of this dissertation, BRM is positioned in relation to BPM (Business Process Management) by means of a literature study. An extension study was conducted: a qualitative study on a list of business rules formulated by a consulting organization based on the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission risk framework. (from the summary of the Thesis p. 165)
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This publication by Kathryn Best accompanied the Lector’s inauguration as head of the research group Cross-media, Brand, Reputation & Design Management (CBRD) in January 2011. The book outlines current debates around the Creative Industries, business and design education and the place of ’well being’ in society, the environment and the economy, before focusing in on the place for design thinking in creative and innovation processes, and how this is driving new applied research agendas and initiatives in education and industry.
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Haalbaarheidsonderzoek Communication & Multimedia Design in het kader van het strategisch project Verbreding aanbod informaticaopleidingen.
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Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have continued to attract considerable media coverage as governments and universities respond to the open and online education movement. Three years after the MOOCs began its rise, it is clear that the HE institutions in the EU are gaining speed in this movement. This report on MOOCs intends to contribute to literature on MOOCs in Europe. Its specific aim is to present data on the perception and objectives of European higher education institutions on MOOCs and the main drivers behind the MOOC movement. In addition, the report makes a comparison with similar studies conducted in the United States in 2013 and 2014 and to data produced by the European University Association (EUA) between October and December 2013. The report made clear that involvement is still increasing, but also that arguments to get involved differ from those in the US. The main source is a survey conducted by the project HOME - Higher education Online: MOOCs the European way, partly funded by the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme. The survey was conducted in October - December 2014. In total 67 institutions responded out of 22 European countries representing in total about 2.8 millions of students.
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The relationship between project management and sustainable development is rapidly gaining interest from both practitioners and academics. Studies on the integration of the concepts of sustainability into project management, approach this topic mostly from a conceptual, logical or moral point of view. Given the fact that the relationship between sustainability and project management is still an emerging field of study, these approaches make sense. However, they do not diminish the need for more empirical studies to understand how the concepts of sustainable development are implemented in practice. This paper reports an analysis of 56 case studies on the integration of the concepts of sustainability in the way organizations initiate, develop and manage projects. The research question of the study was: To what extent, do organizations consider the concepts of sustainability in the initiation, development and management of projects? The study uses the maturity model for sustainability integration that was presented at the 2010 IPMA World Congress for the assessment of the level of sustainability consideration. The study found an overall average level of sustainability consideration in the actual situation of 25.9%. For the desired situation, this score is almost 10 percent higher, showing an ambition to take sustainability more into consideration. The study also showed that the way sustainability currently is considered, shows the traditional ‘less bad’ approach to sustainability integration and not a more modern social responsibility approach.
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This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the AI-related skills and roles needed to bridge the AI skills gap in Europe. Using a mixed-method research approach, this study investigated the most in-demand AI expertise areas and roles by surveying 409 organizations in Europe, analyzing 2,563 AI-related job advertisements, and conducting 24 focus group sessions with 145 industry and policy experts. The findings underscore the importance of both general technical skills in AI related to big data, machine learning and deep learning, cyber and data security, large language models as well as AI soft skills such as problemsolving and effective communication. This study sets the foundation for future research directions, emphasizing the importance of upskilling initiatives and the evolving nature of AI skills demand, contributing to an EU-wide strategy for future AI skills development.
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Background: Although principles of the health promoting school (HPS) approach are followed worldwide, differences between countries in the implementation are reported. The aim of the current study was (1) to examine the implementation of the HPS approach in European countries in terms of different implementation indicators, that is, percentage of schools implementing the HPS approach, implementation of core components, and positioning on so‐called HPS‐related spectra, (2) to explore patterns of consistency between the implementation indicators across countries, and (3) to examine perceived barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the HPS approach across countries. Methods: This study analyzed data from a survey that was part of the Schools for Health in Europe network's Monitoring Task 2020. The survey was completed by HPS representatives of 24 network member countries. Results: Large variations exist in (the influencing factors for) the implementation of the HPS approach in European countries. Observed patterns show that countries with higher percentages of schools implementing the HPS approach also score higher on the implementation of the core components and, in terms of spectra, more toward implementing multiple HPS core components, add‐in strategies, action‐oriented research and national‐level driven dissemination. In each country a unique mix of barriers and facilitators was observed. Conclusion: Countries committed to implementing the HPS approach in as many schools as possible also seem to pay attention to the quality of implementation. For a complete and accurate measurement of implementation, the use of multiple implementation indicators is desirable.
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Author supplied from the article: ABSTRACT Increasing global competition in manufacturing technology puts pressure on lead times for product design and production engineering. By the application of effective methods for systems engineering (engineering design), the development risks can be addressed in a structured manner to minimise chances of delay and guarantee timely market introduction. Concurrent design has proven to be effective in markets for high tech systems; the product and its manufacturing means are simultaneously developed starting at the product definition. Unfortunately, not many systems engineering methodologies do support development well in the early stage of the project where proof of concept is still under investigation. The number of practically applicable tools in this stage is even worse. Industry could use a systems engineering method that combines a structured risk approach, concurrent development, and especially enables application in the early stage of product and equipment design. The belief is that Axiomatic Design can provide with a solid foundation for this need. This paper proposes a ‘Constituent Roadmap of Product Design’, based on the axiomatic design methodology. It offers easy access to a broad range of users, experienced and inexperienced. First, it has the ability to evaluate if knowledge application to a design is relevant and complete. Secondly, it offers more detail within the satisfaction interval of the independence axiom. The constituent roadmap is based on recent work that discloses an analysis on information in axiomatic design. The analysis enables better differentiation on project progression in the conceptual stage of design. The constituent roadmap integrates axiomatic design and the methods that harmonise with it. Hence, it does not jeopardise the effectiveness of the methodology. An important feature is the check matrix, a low threshold interface that unlocks the methodology to a larger audience. (Source - PDF presented at ASME IMECE (International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
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