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The purpose of this work is to apply and compare surrogate-assisted and multi-fidelity, multi-objective optimization (MOO) algorithms to simulation-based aerodynamic design exploration.

The three algorithms for multi-objective aerodynamic optimization compared in this work are the combination of evolutionary algorithms, design space reduction and surrogate models, the multi-fidelity point-by-point Pareto set identification and the multi-fidelity sequential domain patching (SDP) Pareto set identification. The algorithms are applied to three cases, namely, an analytical test case, the design of transonic airfoil shapes and the design of subsonic wing shapes, and are evaluated based on the resulting best possible trade-offs and the computational overhead.

The results show that all three algorithms yield comparable best possible trade-offs for all the test cases. For the aerodynamic test cases, the multi-fidelity Pareto set identification algorithms outperform the surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithm by up to 50 per cent in terms of cost. Furthermore, the point-by-point algorithm is around 27 per cent more efficient than the SDP algorithm.

The novelty of this work includes the first applications of the SDP algorithm to multi-fidelity aerodynamic design exploration, the first comparison of these multi-fidelity MOO algorithms and new results of a complex simulation-based multi-objective aerodynamic design of subsonic wing shapes involving two conflicting criteria, several nonlinear constraints and over ten design variables.

This paper aims to investigates several design strategies to solve multi-objective aerodynamic optimization problems using high-fidelity simulations. The purpose is to find strategies which reduce the overall optimization time while still maintaining accuracy at the high-fidelity level.

Design strategies are proposed that use an algorithmic framework composed of search space reduction, fast surrogate models constructed using a combination of physics-based surrogates and kriging and global refinement of the Pareto front with co-kriging. The strategies either search the full or reduced design space with a low-fidelity model or a physics-based surrogate.

Numerical investigations of airfoil shapes in two-dimensional transonic flow are used to characterize and compare the strategies. The results show that searching a reduced design space produces the same Pareto front as when searching the full space. Moreover, as the reduced space is two orders of magnitude smaller (volume-wise), the number of required samples to setup the surrogates can be reduced by an order of magnitude. Consequently, the computational time is reduced from over three days to less than half a day.

The proposed design strategies are novel and holistic. The strategies render multi-objective design of aerodynamic surfaces using high-fidelity simulation data in moderately sized search spaces computationally tractable.

The purpose of this study is to survey knowledge management (KM) practices and to examine the applications and technologies adopted when developing the knowledge management system (KMS) in build‐to‐order supply chains (BOSC).

This paper uses a literature review of research articles from 1996 to 2007 with keyword indexes to survey the KM practice, KMS technology and its application in BOSC. Such keyword indexes include: BOSC, SCM, KM, KMS, expert system, knowledge‐based system and information system on the Elsevier online database, ScienceDirect, EBSCO, Proquest, Emerald, DOAJ, and Wiley Inter Science. A total of 1,500 articles were found but only 149 articles related to the keywords of KMS application and KM practices within SCM and BOSC.

The important findings indicate that the KMS application is solely focused on single knowledge problem for enabling individual SC members to attain operational excellence. There is a need for further research into the development of KMS with features of knowledge coordination that cross organizational borders in attaining the BOSC integration.

Perhaps, the limitation of this study was the narrowness of the scope of the paper based on the keywords used for searching.

Validation of the multi‐disciplines of KM practices and KMS applications provides enterprises with useful guidelines for implementing KM‐ and KMS‐related projects within their current BOSC practices.

This paper provides useful knowledge by highlighting the characteristics of KMS technology within BOSC and empirical insights into the relationship between KM and BOSC practices.

This case describes the challenges faced by Amul in organising dairy farmers into a co-operative and creating continuous opportunities for value addition. Participants in the case discussion are required to review the developments in the organisation and recommend a strategy for the future.

The purpose of this study to add to the body of knowledge by examining and discussing school choice trends through the perspective of rational choice theory. This qualitative research explores rationale behind the choice of government schools by middle-class parents in contemporary India. This research will also shed light on the features of the schools that parents consider while making school selection process. Finally, research focuses upon the process and context of decision-making and dynamics involved therein. In other words, the attempt is being made to understand what is the yardstick used by parents to differentiate “good” and “bad” school.

This qualitative research was conducted in two government (central and state) schools in Lucknow, India. The findings of the study are based on 22 qualitative interviews conducted with parents of school-going children, and principal or headmaster of the school. The interviews were unstructured and open-ended and were supported by observations. The observation was not only made of the social setting but also the reaction of the participants. The idea was to develop an emic view of the subject by exploring valid narratives. Pseudonyms were used to report the finding so as to maintain the confidentiality of the research subjects.

This research found that the majority of the parents chose school according to their social class, that is, the lower middle-class parents sent their wards to state government primary school, while the middle-class parents preferred to send their wards to central government school (Kendriya Vidyalaya). This study, therefore, lends credence to the contention that the middle class is a variegated social category and the dynamics of school choice vary across its subcategories. This lends credence to the contention that school choice decision is not solely a utilitarian choice and may be guided by emotion as well.

The originality of the research lies in the fact that the authors are extending the arguments made by the rational choice theory. The theory proposes that individual makes rational decisions motivated by self-interest and people look for the finest product or service and in pursuing them attempt to maximize their overall utility. Derivatively, Indian parents rationally make school choice decisions for their wards, gathering information and weighing various options and subsequently choose the “best” school for their children. This study moves beyond the prevailing perception that public schools offer low-quality education, and nobody attends such schools out of choice.

The paper examines the public procurement experiences of India and China during the Covid-19 pandemic and locates them in a framework it proposes. The paper aims to enrich the knowledge of how public procurement could be strategically used in emergencies.

For the two countries, the paper sieved through government orders and notifications promulgated during and for the pandemic, examined the prevailing laws and statutes that were invoked and comprehensively scanned online news portals to gather evidence. In addition, the author also engaged with select, relevant people in the sector who offered useful information about ground-level scenario.

It is found that as compared to China, in India (a) despite the presence of significant flexibilities, (b) there was a little divergence from standard procurement practices, perhaps explained by (c) weaker governance capacity and legitimacy, (c) more allocative (rather than structural) goals of procurement and (d) higher levels of centralization.

The findings of this paper are based entirely on secondary evidence limited to health care as a category of spend. This paper looks at two large countries and not their internal variations in procurement quality. The framework can also be enriched further by drawing additional categories to make the theoretical framework more promising.

The underlying design and motivation of public procurement policies in India need significant changes to make procurement policies responsive to disasters. Also, one can learn decentralization during emergency from the otherwise centralized politics in China.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to compare pandemic procurement-related policies of the two large countries across the Himalayan border. It also attempts to develop a scale/framework on which emergency procurement in countries can be assessed.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the hypothesis that it is fruitful to study new areas within research for sustainability, through experimental education courses, that are based on international and multilateral (transcultural) learning processes.

This way of introducing education into open research issues is presented throughout the experiences and the results of the DECOS campus network (Design in Emerging COntexts for Sustainability). This is an informal expert network on higher design education which involves university campuses from emerging and industrialized countries. The learning process established among those universities has been yearly assessed by the didactic observatory of the Politecnico di Milano University, considering also the feedbacks of the various involved professors.

The paper presents both the opportunities of such learning processes and the results actually achieved (designed) by the students, i.e. the students' sustainable system concepts.

The described experience encourages its continuing and its further implementation and dissemination.

The originality this experience is due to the combination of both experimental education and open‐front research issues and design for sustainability with transcultural learning processes.

This paper aims to diffuse the concept of a multi‐lateral learning process as a means to promote experimental didactics and research (and the cross‐fertilization between these two activities) in the field of design of sustainable product‐service systems (PSSs) and to consider the university campus as the locus for the design, implementation and dissemination of sustainable innovative solutions.

The presentation, description and justification of the working hypothesis, i.e. the campus as community “lab” and “window” to design and promote sustainable innovation. It is described throughout the direct and experimental experiences matured by the design in emerging context for sustainability (DECOS) educational network. This is introduced by both a general overview of disciplinary contents and by the presentation, description and justification of the disciplinary issue. The achievements of the case study (the educational projects spin‐off) and the (disciplinary) contextualization of the case study (the educational design projects) are discussed.

The paper presents findings at two levels. First, disciplinary: the paper justifies the concept of sustainable PSS as a radical innovation model towards sustainability, highlighting its potentialities for emerging contexts (countries). Within this disciplinary framework, it points out the necessity of raising a new generation of designers equipped to operate as system sustainability innovators. Second, educational: through the presentation of a successful case study, it validates the multilateral learning process (network) as a means to develop and promote curriculum innovation and validates the hypothesis that university campuses can be used as optimum show‐cases for the design, testing and dissemination of sustainable solutions for society at large.

Concrete implications of the actions described in the paper are the introduction of advanced/experimental education courses within the curricula. It suggests also the development of tools and mechanisms (such as the use of specific collaborative design web tools and the students and teachers exchanges) as possible future developments for the presented actions.

The idea of studying the PSS applicability and potential in emerging countries represents an original approach. Furthermore, the paper presents an original and effective way of linking experimental didactic with open‐front research issues.