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Flexible assembly systems in any part of the world are still rare. From the USSR is a report of a machine that is working and saving money. Using industrial robots and an adaptive control system 39 operators have been replaced in 3 shift working. A variety of products can be assembled on the one machine with only a need to switch grippers and some auxiliaries on changeover.

Purpose – As corporations and capital markets become more global, it is increasingly important to understand the differences in corporate governance practices.

Approach – This chapter provides a framework for the implementation of corporate governance that can be used globally for study and adaptation. It also describes three corporate governance systems (Anglo-American, Communitarian, and Emerging Markets) and provides an analysis and comparison of how the framework for corporate governance is applied differently, and how success should be evaluated differently, in these three systems. Lastly, it considers the possibility of convergence toward a global system of corporate governance.

Practical implications – There is significant heterogeneity in corporate governance worldwide but there are universal aspects, such as roles, responsibilities, inputs, and processes, which result in effective corporate governance. Understanding the similarities and differences enables researchers and managers to work with multiple systems in different countries where corporations and stakeholders have varying objectives, structures, and internal and external determinants.

Value of chapter – This chapter presents a comparison of the three systems that is critical for further study of global practices. Additionally, the internal and external determinants that impact the varying corporate governance systems are analyzed to more carefully consider the performance measures that account for differences in objectives, motivations, and performance.

This study aims to ensure safe operation of buildings in the mining area.

The strain energy value was taken as one of the parameters characterizing the deformation process at critical stages in these problems and providing a link between them. Based on the data obtained for the structural element of loading diagrams and assessment of the stress–strain state of the structure as a whole, the maximum permissible horizontal deformations of the soil around the foundation are determined, at which the building elements reach the stress–strain state preceding the loss of bearing capacity. For this purpose, a parameter is used that characterizes the deformation process at the stages of critical deformation in these problems and provides a link between them. This parameter is the value of strain energy.

Based on the obtained force behavior diagrams of structural elements and assessment of the stress–strain state of the structure as a whole, the maximum permissible horizontal ground deformations in the vicinity of the foundation are determined, at which the building elements reach the stress–strain state preceding the loss of bearing capacity.

The research provides new data in the form of regularities of deformation behavior of building structures in the zones of mine workings. These data formed the basis for the normative documentation being developed. The research results were used for the development of internal instructions of a large mining enterprise.

This paper aims to expand knowledge on strategy and business model transformation by exploring how the increased data availability can threaten the competitive positioning of data-based firms.

The study uses two longitudinal cases design. The data include a review of 270 business acquisitions performed by IBM and Yahoo! between 1995 and 2018 relying on publicly available documentation, corporate annual reports, shareholders presentations and press releases.

The study provides insights into how the availability of data can affect business models and the competitive advantage of data-based firms. Successful business model transformation in data-based firms appear to be contingent on dual-purpose mergers and acquisitions (M&As), oriented toward data and data-processing activities.

Inductive case studies yield results that require quantitative validation. The insights on business model transformation and M&As from this study were obtained within the context of data-intensive firms.

When formulating a growth strategy through M&As, strategists need to consider whether the current state of their competitive positioning requires single purpose acquisitions (e.g. data or data-processing capabilities) or dual-purpose acquisitions.

As data becomes a commoditized asset, further research and guidance are needed to assess the impact of this phenomenon on data-based business models. This study fulfills an identified need to gain insights into the relationship between business model transformation and M&A activity.

The ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) agenda is complex and requires the formation of a new multi-knowledge core through a consistent and phased formation of professional competencies (ESG competencies). There is currently no established academic education in the field of sustainable development. The proposed model of the new education ecosystem for sustainable development of the region using additive technologies will provide external interoperability to the organisations participating in the ecosystem. Building a transparent relationship between the industrial and production sector of the region and educational organisations in the information environment will ensure the continuity of competencies at all levels of education and allow a rapid response to external and internal challenges of climate change and sustainable development of the region. The primary purpose of our research is to model the processes of the education ecosystem of the region, considering the needs of the labour market in a global transformation of key industries in the implementation of ESG principles using additive technologies. To achieve the research goal, the authors apply general scientific approaches, including logical, statistical, analytical, and economic-mathematical modelling and process approach. The developed process model reflects the leading role of the university in the management system of sustainable development of the region and is the basis for the formation of the managed information environment. It is proposed to integrate the industrial and production sector with educational organisations through a geoinformation system, which will ensure flexibility and continuity of training in relevant market-demanded ESG competencies and provide an opportunity to use the scientific potential of students and graduate students to form sustainable development of the region. Information and educational environment will unite all stakeholders in a single system to achieve sustainable development goals.

The purpose of this paper is to propose the basis for the unification of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) group control protocols for the fast deployment of communication network on territories unsuitable for stationary nodes placement.

The paper proposes the application of active data (AD) conception in which the data exist in a form of executable code allowing data packets to control its own propagation through network. The implementation is illustrated for some scenarios of UAV data communication network deployment, i.e., transmission of the AD using navigation functions and dynamic reconfiguration of the nodes.

The conception of AD expands the range of possible UAV group operations due to on-the-fly adaptation abilities to changes in existing or forthcoming group behavior protocols. This allows the real-time change of data transmission formats, frequency ranges, modulation types, radio network topologies which, in turn, provides the ability to dynamically form the special data transmission networks from a general purpose device temporarily reconfiguring them for data transmission task between transmitter and receiver beyond radio visibility range.

The paper includes use cases for some situation of UAV data communication network deployment.

The paper aims to expand the UAV group control principles by implementing by rapid adaptation to changes in existing or forthcoming group behavior protocols.

This chapter examines corporate governance–related financial reporting issues in the context of globalization. Over the past few decades, the process of globalization has substantially altered the fields of corporate governance and accounting. More specifically, Anglo-American models of corporate governance and financial reporting have received increasing momentum in emerging economies, including China. However, a review of relevant studies suggests that there is limited research examining the implementation of Anglo-American concepts in various countries regardless of their growing acceptance. This monograph extends the existing literature by comprehensively investigating the adoption of internationally acceptable principles and standards in China, the largest transitional economy that has different institutional context from Anglo-American countries. In addition, the review has a number of implications for developing the theoretical framework, and determining the research methodology for the monograph.

Displacement measurement in large-scale structures (such as excavation walls) is one of the most important applications of close-range photogrammetry, in which achieving high precision requires extracting and accurately matching local features from convergent images. The purpose of this study is to introduce a new multi-image pointing (MIP) algorithm is introduced based on the characteristics of the geometric model generated from the initial matching. This self-adaptive algorithm is used to correct and improve the accuracy of the extracted positions from local features in the convergent images.

In this paper, the new MIP algorithm based on the geometric characteristics of the model generated from the initial matching was introduced, which in a self-adaptive way corrected the extracted image coordinates. The unique characteristics of this proposed algorithm were that the position correction was accomplished with the help of continuous interaction between the 3D model coordinates and the image coordinates and that it had the least dependency on the geometric and radiometric nature of the images. After the initial feature extraction and implementation of the MIP algorithm, the image coordinates were ready for use in the displacement measurement process. The combined photogrammetry displacement adjustment (CPDA) algorithm was used for displacement measurement between two epochs. Micro-geodesy, target-based photogrammetry and the proposed MIP methods were used in a displacement measurement project for an excavation wall in the Velenjak area in Tehran, Iran, to evaluate the proposed algorithm performance. According to the results, the measurement accuracy of the point geo-coordinates of 8 mm and the displacement accuracy of 13 mm could be achieved using the MIP algorithm. In addition to the micro-geodesy method, the accuracy of the results was matched by the cracks created behind the project’s wall. Given the maximum allowable displacement limit of 4 cm in this project, the use of the MIP algorithm produced the required accuracy to determine the critical displacement in the project.

Evaluation of the results demonstrated that the accuracy of 8 mm in determining the position of the points on the feature and the accuracy of 13 mm in the displacement measurement of the excavation walls could be achieved using precise positioning of local features on images using the MIP algorithm.The proposed algorithm can be used in all applications that need to achieve high accuracy in determining the 3D coordinates of local features in close-range photogrammetry.

Some advantages of the proposed MIP photogrammetry algorithm, including the ease of obtaining observations and using local features on the structure in the images rather than installing the artificial targets, make it possible to effectively replace micro-geodesy and instrumentation methods. In addition, the proposed MIP method is superior to the target-based photogrammetric method because it does not need artificial target installation and protection. Moreover, in each photogrammetric application that needs to determine the exact point coordinates on the feature, the proposed algorithm can be very effective in providing the possibility to achieve the required accuracy according to the desired objectives.

This study seeks to ascertain whether there are regional gender differences in vocational education in Bulgaria at the upper secondary level and to shed more light on the main factors for the (non-)emergence of these differences. The research has drawn on data from the National Statistical Institute and the Centre for Information in Education in Bulgaria as well as a nationally representative school-leavers survey (2014); it has applied descriptive statistics and multilevel modelling for the data analysis. Overall, the present study demonstrates that the regional dimension is indispensable for understanding the development of vocational education and gender differentiation in education. The analysis provides evidence that the mechanism by which the education system contributes to regional gender segregation in vocational education is its opportunity structures at the regional level, which are related to vocational education offers. In addition, we found a positive association between industrial development and the share of women in engineering at the regional level.