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Fusion of new technologies and convergence has led to the emergence of new industries. This paper aims to present experiences of the concept of convergence from a patent citation analysis viewpoint. The main objective of the paper is to develop a tool for anticipating the emerging new industry segments.

The patent analysis methods have been used to get an idea of the stage of new industry segment in the intersection of the paper and electronics industries. The authors distinguish self‐citations from external citations, and further divide citations into two groups: within the industry and beyond the industry. Backward citations are used to evaluate the spill‐overs between industries and forward citations are used to evaluate the significance of technology‐based industry transformation.

The recognized trends of the trajectory changes and growing overlaps of technological fields show indications for possible convergence between industries. Differentiating between external and self‐citations within and beyond industry citations helps to provide more comprehensive prospects of a future technology competitive environment.

This study evaluated technology development in converging environments. It would be a scientifically significant contribution if the novel patent analysis methods could be used effectively for creating understanding in advance about the technology development and industry convergences.

The presented patent citation methodology provides new insights into the analysis of industry evolution, technological innovations and business development related to converging industries and technologies.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the linkages between the technological, market and political environment in the wind power industry and their contribution to market diffusion.

The evaluation is based on a literature review of the wind power industry and policy issues in selected countries, patent and financial analyses of leading European firms and semi-structured interviews of energy experts.

The results reveal that the industry is policy-driven and appropriate energy politics are crucial in continuing the rapid wind power market diffusion during the next decades. Wind power technologies are in an accelerating stage of evolution, and competitive technologies contribute to market diffusion and firms’ financial performance. However, without adequate energy subsidies and emission trading schemes, the industry will not be competitive in the energy markets, where other energy sources, including fossil fuels, are also subsidized.

This case focuses mainly on the leading European industry actors and has a European perspective in policy issues. The analyses are limited to the main support mechanisms and countries where the diffusion of renewable energy has been rapid.

The wind power industry is still in the emerging phase in its life cycle, and well-planned and efficiently implemented public support schemes are needed in order for the firms to compete successfully in the markets. The industry will probably be competitive without subsidies in 10-20 years.

The evaluation of the given indicators and political environment will give insight into the competitive environment and factors behind the diffusion of emerging technologies.

This study aims to improve the performance of geothermal energy. Therefore, this research requires a deep examination of the determinant factors that affect the performance of geothermal energy; the results of this study are expected to increase the outcomes that can be enjoyed by the people of Indonesia.

This research uses quantitative approach. Data are obtained via questionnaires. The population in this study is all stakeholders of the national geothermal energy policy throughout the region. The stakeholders in question are the Community Care for Energy and the Environment (MPEL), using a sample of 400 respondents. The variables used were human resource capacity (X1), political resource capacity (X2), economic resource capacity (X3), social resource capacity (X4), performance of geothermal energy policy (Y1) and geothermal energy policy outcomes (Y2). Data analysis used to solve hypothetical model built in this research is partial least square.

While human resource, political resource, economic resource and social resource capacities affect the performance of geothermal energy policy, those capacities directly affect the performance of geothermal energy policies. On the other hand, the results of the indirect effect test show that with the mediation of good geothermal energy policy, it will be seen that the effect of human resource capacity, political resource capacity, capacity of economic resources and the capacity of social resources to the utilization of geothermal energy. The utilization of geothermal energy cannot be directly felt by the community without the support of the formulation of geothermal energy policy or unless it is supported by high human resources, political resources, economic resource and social resource capacities.

No previous research has comprehensively examined the effect of human resource, political resource, economic resource and social resource capacities on geothermal energy policy and its implications for the outcomes of geothermal energy policy.

The high variability in cardiac surgery length – is one of the main challenges for staff managing productivity. This study aims to evaluate the impact of six interventions on open‐heart surgery operating theatre productivity.

A discrete operating theatre event simulation model with empirical operation time input data from 2,603 patients is used to evaluate the effect that these process interventions have on the surgery output and overtime work. A linear regression model was used to get operation time forecasts for surgery scheduling while it also could be used to explain operation time.

A forecasting model based on the linear regression of variables available before the surgery explains 46 per cent operating time variance. The main factors influencing operation length were type of operation, redoing the operation and the head surgeon. Reduction of changeover time between surgeries by inducing anaesthesia outside an operating theatre and by reducing slack time at the end of day after a second surgery have the strongest effects on surgery output and productivity. A more accurate operation time forecast did not have any effect on output, although improved operation time forecast did decrease overtime work.

A reduction in the operation time itself is not studied in this article. However, the forecasting model can also be applied to discover which factors are most significant in explaining variation in the length of open‐heart surgery.

The challenge in scheduling two open‐heart surgeries in one day can be partly resolved by increasing the length of the day, decreasing the time between two surgeries or by improving patient scheduling procedures so that two short surgeries can be paired.

A linear regression model is created in the paper to increase the accuracy of operation time forecasting and to identify factors that have the most influence on operation time. A simulation model is used to analyse the impact of improved surgical length forecasting and five selected process interventions on productivity in cardiac surgery.

The main streams of the supply chain are defined as material, information and financial flow. There have been many studies and practical cases regarding the flow of material and information including information sharing. However, financial flow related studies have not been widely examined relatively, compared with their importance.

The information sharing is recognized as the method that can reduce the Bullwhip effect in supply chain management. The author intends to analyze the impact of financial information sharing on the results of the supply chain.

In the point of supply chain risk management view, the author examined the impact of financial flow among the various factors that can impede the stability of the supply chain.

In this study, the author embodied the simulation regarding the impact of financial information flow on supply chain performance and stability based on the system dynamics methodology and analyzed the performance.

Assuming the supply chain, composed of supplying company, manufacturing company and sales company , the author embodied the simulation model and assumed that working capital and cash information sharing were achieved. The author embodied the model to affect the settlement conditions according to the results of financial information sharing.

In this chapter the restructuration of the Finnish welfare state is examined in the context of rural Finland and especially within the framework of the structural change in agriculture. After briefly outlining the context of globalizing food markets and the Common Agricultural Policy for the condition of Finnish farmers, the chapter focuses on the economic impacts of the ongoing structural transformation on ex-farmers' position in society and the cultural and political aspects of this transformation. After this, the transitions in the overall position of the farmers will be connected with the current restructuring of the Nordic welfare state in Finland. The conclusion highlights the most critical features in the structural change of the welfare state regime as they are recognized against this background. A special concern of this chapter is how the remodelling of the welfare state treats the principle of universalism, which is justly regarded as the focal characteristic of the Nordic welfare states. The changing position of farmers has been selected as a point of departure for two reasons: agriculture is still the most important rural livelihood in Finland and, consequently, transitions in agriculture have a strong impact on rural areas.

The purpose of this research is to compare two different sample populations (student and general) to determine the impact of brand community motives on brand community engagement.

Two samples were drawn for the purpose of the current research. The first sample was drawn among the members of various brand communities from a general North American population sample (N = 503). The second sample was drawn purely from students, belonging to a variety of brand communities, from a middle-sized Canadian university (N = 195). Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to analyse the strength, significance and effect sizes of the relationships between brand community motive and engagement constructs.

The findings indicate that the impact of brand community motives varied by sample population. The information and entertainment motives were significantly related to brand community engagement in both sample populations with roughly equal effect sizes. The social integration motive was again significantly related to the brand community engagement construct in the student sample population – but not for the general North American general population sample. Further, the self-discovery motive and status enhancement motives were significantly related to brand community engagement in the North American sample, but not for the student sample. This indicates significant differences between the two sample populations.

The results of the current research demonstrate that student populations are significantly different from the general population regarding their motives towards brand communities. This indicates that brand community managers need to be aware of the motives of different brand community members and also that they need to exercise caution about utilizing purely student data to make decisions about brand community management.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a more socially centred understanding of living labs for urban research questions by reflecting on current technologically centred and innovation-driven approaches.

The paper takes the form of literature review complemented by conceptual knowledge from practical experiences.

Urban living labs, as they were introduced from a technological and economic point of view, have to be translated into the context of social sciences. By doing so, they may be a promising tool to stimulate co-creation and collaboration also in urban research projects that focus on social research questions and include diverse target groups. Socially centred living labs take into account the local context by developing a space of encounter for the participants in the urban living lab and by implementing a set of living methods that suit both the research design and the local requirements.

This paper argues that urban living labs can be a valuable tool in urban research to include researchers, politicians, local stakeholders and residents in an open concept of co-creation. It argues that a locally contextualised design in terms of space and methods is necessary to create an environment of trust and collaboration.