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The purpose of this paper is to report findings from an interpretive case study on user participation in the open source software (OSS) development context.

Through an empirical, interpretive case study and a literature review utilising the metaphor of text in the analysis, this paper provides a refined conceptualisation of user participation in OSS development.

The paper reveals that different kinds of meanings have been attached to users and to their participation. User participation is both direct and indirect in the OSS development context. Some user groups actively take part in OSS development, while others are merely represented in it. Different kinds of intermediaries “representing the users” are identified.

The research is based on one case study on a small but active OSS project with an interest in users. Other kinds of OSS projects should be analysed. The analysis was focused on a discussion forum, but users can take part in OSS development by other means as well. Paths for future work should include the gathering of more varied empirical data.

The findings indicate that users can provide feedback to the development through discussion forums in the distributed environment, but there is a need to support the users in doing so and the developers in analysing the data. The importance of different kinds of intermediaries “representing the users” is highlighted.

The paper provides thorough empirical insights and a refined conceptualisation of user participation addressing the currently weakly empirically explored OSS development context.

The key to rationalisation of the assembly process is not to be found in the area of production preparation, but in the area of design. The principles of design for assembly are described in detail.

Recent U.S. Treasury yields have been constrained to some extent by the zero lower bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates. Therefore, we compare the performance of a standard affine Gaussian dynamic term structure model (DTSM), which ignores the ZLB, to a shadow-rate DTSM, which respects the ZLB. Near the ZLB, we find notable declines in the forecast accuracy of the standard model, while the shadow-rate model forecasts well. However, 10-year yield term premiums are broadly similar across the two models. Finally, in applying the shadow-rate model, we find no gain from estimating a slightly positive lower bound on U.S. yields.

Recognizing the rationale of a product family architecture (PFA) with respect to design for mass customization (DFMC), this paper discusses the fundamental issues underlying a PFA, including product information modeling, structural implications of product families, functional variety versus technical variety, class‐member relationships inherent in variety, modularity and commonality, PFA design spaces, and PFA composition. The background research is reviewed in terms of product architecture and modularity, product platform and product families, and product modeling and design process models. To organize product varieties in DFMC, a PFA should be described from three different perspectives, namely the functional (as seen from customer, sales and marketing viewpoints), behavioral (as seen from the product technology or design engineer perspective) and structural (as seen from the fulfillment or manufacturing and logistic perspective). Meeting diverse customer requirements and achieving volume economy simultaneously can be best achieved by synchronizing these three perspectives. In fact, the mappings between PFA views manifest the cooperative effort among different business functions, whilst three PFA views facilitate the integration of different phases of product development.

Due to external challenges necessitating high degrees of innovation and customization without sacrificing cost and quality, many industrial firms need to transform their entire approach to product development. Traditionally, industrial firms have adopted a singular approach to product development based on theories that deal with the development of individual products, individual projects and their management, individual designers and developers, and so on. However, in order to mass‐customize products and services – while at the same time standardizing and streamlining a product platform internally – it is necessary to transform product development theory and praxis towards a perception called multiple product development. The main contributions of the paper will be a discussion of this concept and a case study on how an industrial company has begun the transformation towards multiple product development.

In order to respond to the industrial trend towards service design and delivery, research must address a vast area partially related to value creation, marketing and network theories. However, compared to the space to be explored, there is little insight available. Thus, the purpose of this paper, as a first step, is to propose a way to frame such research.

An extensive literature review is performed of over 100 articles on product/service system (PSS) in general, service design, innovation, and business models in a broad view. Then, the analysis from the authors' viewpoint is carried out to give a frame.

The paper presents three crucial dimensions for service‐orientation research, i.e. an offer dimension representing products and services, a provider dimension, and a customer/user dimension. In addition, three research targets are proposed: PSS‐offer modelling, PSS development and PSS potential. Furthermore, several promising future research directions are identified. These include evaluating economic consequences or environmental benefits, establishing terminology, organizational issues, and developing methods and tools to support designers.

The paper presents a way of viewing research for service orientation, which contributes especially to further research in this area.

A paper presented at the Paris Assembly Automation conference dealt with a typical project concerning assembly automation of an LPG gas valve which had not been designed for automatic assembly. A series of suggestions for design modifications were proposed with the purpose of simplifying assembly.

Begins with a brief review of research in the area of performance, with particular emphasis on design and product development, highlighting the main weaknesses in work to date. Then presents a fundamental and generic model of performance, related to knowledge‐based activities in design, which describes performance in terms of its key elements, efficiency and effectiveness, and provides a basis for modelling performance across different process levels. Evolves this model further to describe performance measurement and management in design development. Concludes that it is not possible to distinguish the efficiency of the design activity from that of design management, and that, in addition, efficiency appears to be inherent to an activity, but is difficult to measure.